Subject 4261
by Leodragon678
Summary: "Inside each of us, there is the seed of both good and evil. It's a constant struggle as to which one will win. And one cannot exist without the other." Asks the simple question: What if Tails was created by Robotnik?
1. A Old Face

**Hello everyone! Welcome to my new story! This story takes place in an AU Archie timeline with a few minor changes which will be explored later in this chapter. Feel free to read and leave a review afterward to let me know what you thought! Anyways, onto the story!**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **An Old Face...**_

"Sonic, remember what we're here for." The voice came though the communicator, "Don't get distracted."

"Since when have I ever gotten distracted?" Sonic asked back.

"Do you really want me to answer that question?"

"Come on Sal! I'll be fine, it's not like Buttnik could catch me if he wanted to anyways!"

"I'm not scared about Robotnik, just, make sure you get out in one piece."

"Can do."

Sonic looked away from the communicator toward the Swat Bots that were attempting to block his route, curling into a ball, he sliced through them like they were paper.

The group of Freedom Fighters were participating in another raid on Robotropolis, Sonic was tasked with distracting all the bots and causing as much damage as possible, the remained of the group was busy sneaking their way toward the main construction facility for the Swatbots, attempting to sabotage the assembly line in any way they could. Sonic meanwhile, was on a roll, literally. None of the Swatbots had even gotten close to touching him. He just hoped it would be enough.

 **-X-**

"Alert! Intruder detected in sector DH-5!"

"Alert! Intruder detected in sector DH-5!"

He flattened his ears to his head, he always hated how loud that alarm was.

"Alert! Intruder detected in sector DH-4!"

That meant he had to be moving fast, to cover ground that quickly. There was only one mobian he knew that could move that fast.

"Sonic..." He growled under his breath.

Flicking his cape as he turned to walk toward the source of the alarms, he was going to have a nice little meeting with the biggest thorn in his father's side...

 **-X-**

Sonic continued his rampage throughout the city, destroying every robot he came across.

" _This is easy, almost, too easy..."_

"Sonic the Hedgehog!" Yelled an all too familiar voice, Sonic didn't even have to look to know who it was.

"Nice to see you to Tails..." Sonic replied, the name dripping with sarcasm.

"My name is Miles!" The voice replied.

Sonic finally turned to look at his arch-enemy. The twin tailed fox stood a few feet from him, his familiar red, black, and yellow uniform perfectly mirroring that of his father's. A black cape dangled behind him, two modified Swat Bots flanked him on either side.

The Swatbots were used to protect higher ranking members of the empire, so Miles and Robotnik namely. They were given additional armor and weapons at the cost of their speed.

Miles drew two blasters mounted at his waist. "Where is the rest of your pathetic Resistance?"

"They'll be here soon enough!" Sonic knew this was a lie, the rest of the group was across the city, he was just trying to keep Miles busy.

"I'm counting on it. Now then, let's get down to business..."

Sonic was forced to dodge the first two blasts from Miles' blasters. The escorting Swat Bots instantly engaged alongside Miles, charging forward to protect their master.

Sonic dashed between the two directly at Miles, who reacted by striking Sonic back with his tails. Miles and the Swat Bots continued to lay down a storm of blaster fire to no avail, as Sonic was able to dodge the blasts.

"You and your pathetic Resistance's tyranny will end at last! My father will be free to create the perfect world!"

" _According to you..."_ Sonic thought as he continued to dodge the hailstorm of blaster fire. Charging one of the Swatbots Sonic jumped off its torso, the robot he had just leaped from was struck with several blaster shots, instantly destroying it.

"You need to work on your aim more, you haven't even gotten close to hitting me!" Sonic taunted.

Miles simply growled under his breath as he continued to lay down shots.

"Alert! Intruder detected in Sector EO-8!" A robotic voice spoke over the speakers.

" _Shoot!"_ Sonic thought, the others had trigged the alarm.

Miles turned to look toward the sector in shock. Sonic, using his distraction, quickly dashed toward him striking Miles across the back. Miles was flung forward onto his front, his blasters falling from his hands. Sonic dashed back and swiftly sliced though the remaining guard Swatbot. Miles rose back to his feet.

Miles attempted to charge Sonic, only to be met with a chest full of quills. Miles was flung back into the nearby wall. He stood back up, wiping blood from his mouth.

"Gotta admit," the fox spoke. "Didn't see that coming. Distracting me here while your friends went for the factory."

Miles ran back over to retrieve his pistols. Once he looked back up however, there was no sign of the hedgehog.

"Father, reroute all Swatbots in Sector EO-8 to the outer wall!" Miles radioed into his earpiece as he dashed toward the outer edge of the city. Sonic and his friends would have to get themselves out of the city, and he intended to use that.

 **-X-**

Sonic dashed into the factory at full speed.

"See, what'd I tell ya!" He spoke, "I'm just fine!"

Sally looked up from the charge she was setting. "Well then see if you can hold off the bots, they should be showing up any moment!"

"I'm on it!"

Sonic dashed out of the factory, prepared for a fight... Only to continue to wait, nothing appeared to challenge him.

"Hey Sal, there's nothing here!"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean there's no robots!"

Sally, along with Rotor both curiously stopped what they were doing to look out. Sure enough, the whole area looked abandoned.

"Well that's strange..." Rotor added, "Normally they would be showing up here in droves by now."

"Well I'm not complaining!" A male voice spoke from with the building. "That's less that we have to deal with!"

"Don't you think that's odd?" Sally questioned back. "I mean they all have to be somewhere Antoine."

"As long as they're not here, I don't care where they are!"

 **-X-**

The group finished planting the charges, before sneaking back to the exit of the city. Still confused to the lack of robots.

"They have to be somewhere around here!" A voice spoke from ahead. "Find them!"

Sally peeked around the corner and saw what seems to be hordes of Swatbots, Miles stood among them, pistols already drawn.

"Sonic, you wouldn't have happened to run across Miles, would you?"

"Well..." He stammered, "Now that you mention it..."

"Sonic, you have to tell us these things! I hope you still have that power ring with you, cause we're going to need it."

Sonic produced the ring and prepared to get the jump on the horde. The golden circle in his hand began to glow as he dashed through the sea of bots. Continuing past and out the exit.

"After him!" Miles ordered, "Don't let him escape!"

Most of the bots followed Sonic, exiting the city into the nearby forest. Miles along with a handful of bots continued to guard the exit. After a minute or two, the remainder of the group began their attack.

Miles was surprised by the assault, and although he tried valiantly to defend his post, he was overrun by the Freedom Fighters. Shortly after they left, the factory behind him erupted in a cloud of heat and smoke. He looked back toward the ruins of the structure in disbelief. He had been so close! Eventually, a thought made its way to the front of his mind.

" _Father is not going to be happy..."_

 **-X-**

Miles stepped into the throne room, dreading the meeting with his father. Instinctively, he twisted both his tails behind him.

"Father..." Miles muttered, "I'm sorry to report that- that they have escaped."

No response.

"I'm sorry father, I shouldn't hav-"

"You shouldn't have become predicable..."

"What?"

"You've become predicable Miles, you do remember why you were created correct?"

Miles looked down at the floor with the last sentence, "Yes. I'm sorry, I can do better."

"Yes, yes you can. Because, if you can't... Then I might as well just replace you... Head to your room, I don't want to see you for the rest of the day."

"Yes father..." Miles turned and left the throne room, his tails dragging behind him as he left.

 **-Alright everyone! That's it for the first chapter! Let me know what you thought by leaving a review, and while you're at it, be sure to follow the story to be alerted to whenever I update it! In the meantime, try out some of the other stories on my profile! Until next time, this is Leodragon signing off!**


	2. Origins

**Subject #4261**

 _ **Origins**_

Miles walked back to his room, "Maybe what father said was right..." He thought aloud. "Have I become predictable?"

Entering his quarters, with the familiar gray walls, he laid himself down on his cot, sighing to himself. He had been so close, if it wasn't for him ordering the robots after Sonic they would have most of the Resistance leadership captured by now. He felt a cold yet comforting presence against his back, he turned himself over and saw K.I.T. lying next to him. Tails smiled to himself, K.I.T. was one of the first creations that he had been proud of. Standing for Kinetic Intelligence Terminal, it was one of his favorites as well. A small robot modeled after a dog and plated in orange like his fur, K.I.T. made his life considerably easier.

"Kay, do you really think father meant that?"

K.I.T. just looked up at him quizzically.

"Right, you weren't there for that..."

Miles sat up and placed his head in his hands. K.I.T. jumped off the bed and projected a hologram above himself.

"Entry Number 1" Ivo began from on screen.

Miles smiled to himself, Kay always knew how to cheer him back up after one of his failures.

"I Dr. Ivo Robotnik, have concluded, to spread my influence across Mobius, I need something new. I have found that, while machines have utmost loyalty to the Empire, they are predictable, machines will always take the logical route, making them easy to repel. They lack the same spark and impulsiveness that Mobians possess. This clip will be played at the beginning of all further entries to Project: Synthesis."

"Entry Number 2. This marks the beginning of entries for subject number four thousand two hundred and sixty-one. Subject's cells appear functional and able to replicate themselves properly. This is already a good sign, as most of the preceding attempts have failed to replicate cells. The subject has been synthesized as a member of the Vulpes vulpes line, more commonly known as a red fox."

"Entry Number 3. Basic structure seems to have developed properly, small hands, ears, and paws are visible. Subject appears to be advancing quickly."

"Entry Number 4. Small tail like structure has appeared on the back of the subject, further development to hands and paws has further occurred. Additional surveillance will be applied, I would hate to lose this one so far into development."

"Entry Number 5. Rather interestingly, this specimen seems to have developed two additional growths on its rear, one appears slightly larger than the other, will be carefully watch this new development, otherwise, no major changes have occurred."

"Entry Number 6. The larger of the two growths appears to be forming into another tail like structure, the other is still small enough that it may be able to be removed before major structural development has occurred, however, the larger one appears to be too far into development to remove safely without risking major injury to the specimen. It's a risk I'm not willing to take."

"Entry Number 7. Specimen was removed from its tank for the first time this morning, the smaller additional growth has been removed successfully. I feel this specimen has advanced far enough into the process that it warrants a name, I will think further on this and report back next entry."

"Entry Number 8. His name will be Miles, Miles Robotnik. Miles has awoken for the first time today, he appears curious to his surroundings, the growth accelerator that was grafted to his DNA appears to be functioning correctly as he has developed at an astonishing rate."

"Entry 9. Miles appears sentient now, attempting to mimic my movements and actions, if I place my hand against the tank's glass, he will perform the same to me. I feel a sort of bond has formed."

Miles smiled to himself, these entries showed that even though his father could be disappointed in him at times, he still loved him deep down.

"Entry 10. Miles was released into the world for the first time, he is capable of walking using his feet and hands, he does not appear capable of speech yet, however, I feel this could quickly change. He is curious to everything around him."

"Entry 11. Miles is capable of walking somewhat unsteadily on his feet, he must use the walls and tables for support, he can stand for short periods of time without support. He is also capable of making noises such as soft whimpers and growls. I believe these to be primitive attempts to speak and mimic my voice and speech."

"Entry 12. I have presented Miles with his uniform for the first time today, he seemed curious about the nature of it, yet eager to try it on. The boots seem to have helped with his walking, making him more stable, he seems to enjoy the cape very much, it was been modified to successfully accommodate his tails. I look forward to having Miles as an heir to the empire and wish to see his potential as a commander of our forces. I believe he will be the key factor in stomping out the Resistance and bringing glory to the empire."

The entries ended, and Miles found himself grinning. "Thanks Kay," He spoke. "You have no idea how much that helped." He stood up from his cot. "Come on, let's get to work."

Miles marched himself out of his room, he would prove to his father he was still useful to the empire, he would capture part of the resistance leadership they would be interrogated for the location of Knothole, then, he would bring a swift end to the resistance's treachery. Then his father would be free to create the perfect world, one without loss, pain, or betrayal. It would truly be the golden age of Mobius, and he would be its savior...

 **Alright, this should give you guys and idea of where Miles came from and why he continues to fight against the Resistance. Be sure to follow the story to get notified when I update, and leave me a review to tell me how I'm doing! Until next time!**


	3. A Perfect World

**Hello everyone! Before we get started here, I just wanted to reply to the reviews I've received so far.**

 **Anonymous Guest: Don't worry, I'm not planning on stopping any time soon! Have another story planned for when I finally finish Mind Visions!**

 **clonedProphet: Thanks! Glad to hear you're excited!**

 **Zoggerific: Happy to hear from you, been wanting to write an Archie story on this new account for a bit so I'm pumped! Not sure if they'll show up but you never know!**

 **Anyways, that's all for now, let's get started!**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **A Perfect World**_

Miles was busy reviewing the security footage from the recent attack, trying to get any info he could on the whereabouts of Knothole or any encampments for that matter.

"There has to be something," He thought aloud.

He continued to pace while the clip rewound itself for what felt like the thousandth time. His boots making hard clangs against the metal underfoot.

"They can't be that good, they have to have slipped up."

He was interrupted by the sound of rocket thrusters from the hall. Looking over, he spotted Metal Sonic waiting.

"Miles, Robotnik requests your presence," It monotonously added.

Miles nodded acknowledging the request before Metal blasted off again.

He walked himself to the throne room and main workshop, before entering, he checked to make sure he looked presentable. If his father had asked for him, it either meant that he had a new idea, or he was about to be severely reprimanded.

He entered the throne room, his father was present at one of the tables in the workshop, working on an invention of untold genius.

"Good to see you again Miles."

"Agreed, why did you call?"

"I need you to check on something for me, it appears a patrol has picked up on a group of Mobians outside the base, they appear to be preparing for an attack of some sort."

"You want me to deal with them?"

"Exactly! I can't have them interrupting me. Feel free to take anything you deem necessary."

"Can do, I'll make sure they don't come anywhere near this city."

Miles turned, flicking his cape as he did, and walked out of the throne room to retrieve his forces.

After gathering a respectable group of Swat Bots, he began his march out of the city, coordinates had been sent to him via his communicator. He stopped before two other bots on his way out. Robians, as they were called, were robots created in the image of the Mobian forces they fought against. They were incredibly competent in combat, however, they were also very valuable, so valuable in fact, that only Robotnik himself could oversee their creation. Not even he, as heir to the Empire, was allowed access.

While the Robians were equipped with powerful weaponry, their greatest strength was probably psychological, due to appearing like the Mobians they fought against, it provided an element of psychological warfare.

"You two with me!" He added, pointing to the two mechs. The two Robians quickly fell into line with the remained of his force. He continued the march to the coordinates, not only would he have superior firepower to any that the Mobians could muster, but he also had the element of surprise...

 **-X-**

Upon arriving, he had his forces station themselves just out of sight from the village, he personally decided he was going to get a better look. Removing his uniform, he donned a small brown jacket that they had captured in an earlier raid. It helped considerably with allowing him to blend in and conceal his tails. His boots were swapped out for simple shoes, and he ditched his black gloves all together.

He emerged from the clearing and entered the village, nobody suspected a thing. He figured it'd be best to target whatever forces they could muster first before hopefully getting them to surrender. Robotnik always liked them more alive than dead, and, while some casualties are required, it didn't mean he had to like it. He would bring them in alive if possible, at least at that point they could be released when they had finished creating perfection for all. Not one of the very few Mobians present questioned what he was doing here, why would they? He looked just like them after all. Eventually, at the largest hut in the village he found where the scavenged weaponry was being prepared. Parts of Swat Bot patrols and other badniks were present and being outfitted into weapons. Out of the many Mobians present, he recognized one, a purplish walrus, wearing a hat. He was one of the higher-ranking members of the resistance, he saw him last raid. Anger began rising in him. Now was the time for vengeance.

He returned to his forces, still idlily waiting his command, and returned to his standard uniform. Leading them around to be closer to their target, he emerged from the trees. A buzz bomber floating above him.

"Attention!" He yelled into his communicator, which was then transmitted to the buzz bomber above him, amplifying his voice.

"This is Miles Robotnik! I am ordering you to surrender immediately or face complete and total destruction!"

As he received no response to his demand. He orders his battalion of troops forward, before drawing pistols himself. The defense the village put up was, pathetic to say the least. They were quickly overrun by the sheer numbers at Miles' disposal. The Robians had flamethrowers extended from their hands as they torched the village.

Upon they appearance that they would be decimated, the Mobians surrendered. Swat Bots began to round up what prisoners they could and marched off toward the city. Rather infuriatingly, the walrus he had spotted earlier was nowhere to be found.

Miles spoke to the two Robians that remained. "Burn this village to the ground, leave nothing but ash." The Robians complied, turning to the village and turning it into a roaring bonfire.

Miles smiled to himself, fire, had always fascinated him...

 **Alright guys, that's it for now. Feel free to leave a review telling me your thoughts and follow to keep up with when I update. Until next time!**


	4. Retribution

**Alright I'm back! We also have another review from last time!**

 **AceMasterz25: Glad you enjoy it! Miles is understandably a little bit lonely, he does live in a city populated entirely by robots after all. Robotnik, while he has a soft spot for Miles, he will not tolerate failure.**

 **Alright, that should be all of them for now. If you leave a review, I'll be sure to respond to it in the next chapter! Let's get started.**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **Retribution**_

This was the part he hated the most, having to ensure that the robots properly transferred the prisoners to their holding cells. He didn't like seeing how they looked at him, begging him to release them. He reminded himself that this was for the greater good, resistance could not be tolerated, and some loses were acceptable. That's what his father told him at least, the prisoners would be held in their cells until the Resistance was defeated. Robotnik forbade him to interact with the prisoners, or even enter the prison block for that matter. He didn't want their ideals that Mobius could remain the way it was and not destroy itself infecting him. A more unified society was required if the planet was to survive.

The prisoners continued to whisper to one another, unbeknownst to them, he could clearly hear due to his exceptional hearing.

"The Freedom Fighters will be here, right?"

" _Yes, they will,"_ he thought to himself. The walrus he had seen earlier was no doubt reporting back what he had witnessed, he planned for them to at least give it a shot. The prison block was very secure as was, however, he figured they would be desperate enough to try and free them.

"Why is he working for Robotnik?"

Simple, his father was working to make the world better for everyone involved. However, many wanted to stick to the way they already lived and actively resisted their campaign. Plus, Robotnik was his father, or at least, as close as he would ever have to one.

He heard footsteps behind him and turned to face his father.

"Excellent work Miles." He added, "They won't be bothering us again."

"Yes, however. One of the Resistance leadership was at the village, he escaped."

"That doesn't matter, you still succeeded in doing what you were ordered."

Miles smiled to himself, he had a point. He technically had succeeded, capturing the walrus was just an additional thing he could have accomplished.

"Now however, we have other matters to attend to," Robotnik continued. "The location of Knothole has still not been found."

Knothole, how he hated that word. It acted as the supposed operation center for the Resistance, however, it was hidden and kept secret by the Resistance. If only they knew where it was, they could march all their forces directly into the base, finishing them once and for all.

"What did you have in mind?"

"This," Robotnik extended his hand, a small chip like device sat in his palm. "A tracking device, the Resistance leadership will no doubt be here to try and free the prisoners. Sonic seems to have taken a liking to fighting you personally recently. Try and see if you can plant this on him and he'll lead us right to them."

"I won't let you down." Miles responded, taking the small chip and placing it in a pouch on his belt.

"I know you won't."

Robotnik began to walk off, however he was interrupted by Miles.

"Father, I'm sorry about last time. I shouldn't have let them escape."

"While I'm not happy with the results, I know you tried your best. Let's focus on the task at hand."

Miles nodded, allowing his father to walk off. He returned his attention to the prisoners. He hoped that one day they would be able to see that his father was working for their benefit. He was providing them a utopia that would account for all their needs.

"Why can't they just see that?" Miles questioned aloud. "Why is it always stubbornness and viewing us as the tyrants?"

Miles mulled over the question in his mind for a bit. Long enough in fact, that the prisoners had successfully been placed into their cells. K.I.T. had come along and nestled itself against Miles' tails.

"I mean, think about it Kay." Miles spoke, finally noting the bot's presence. "If they would just cooperate then we could do so much! Instead we're stuck wasting time fighting this useless war."

Miles stood himself back up, causing K.I.T. to rise with him. "I suppose I should probably start getting to work, this chip isn't going to plant itself."

The small robot barked in agreement.

"Now, they'll probably try and break into the cells sometime soon, maybe even tonight. "Kay, set out an alert for all Swats in the area. I need them to be at my call at all times, the second we get any sign of Sonic or any of them for that matter."

A small antenna extended from K.I.T.'s back in response to Miles' order, he didn't need any other confirmation that the signal had been broadcast.

"Now, we need to try to get them before they can deal any real damage. Then there's the question of how to get this chip onto Sonic?"

Miles walked back to the main workshop, father was notably absent, maybe he was checking on the prisoners? It didn't matter, he prepared a small housing for the tracker that could be inserted into Sonic's quills without notice. He would have to get close for that to happen, however, he figured it wouldn't be too hard.

"We'll deal with them before they can even get into the prison block, the walls are thick enough that they'll have to bypass the doors. That's when we'll corner them."

Miles grabbed himself a set of binoculars from him room and set himself up outside the prison block, ascending a ladder on one of the nearby buildings to have a vantage point. Eventually, he spotted movement outside of the compound.

" _Finally,"_ He thought to himself. _"Thought they wouldn't show up."_

"Swat Bots, report to Sector EK-5 on my command."

Sure enough, the group of five approached the wall and boosted each other over.

" _Perfect."_

"Report to Sector EK-5" He spoke in the communicator after the five were over the wall.

Descending the ladder, he approached the door to the prison block.

"Rotor, can't you work any faster?"

"I'm trying here, cracking the security on this door isn't the simplest thing."

Peeking around the corner, he could make out the five of them, the walrus he had spotted earlier was working on the door as he predicted. The other four of them waited nearby, he quickly picked out Sonic among the group.

"We've got company." He recognized the voice as Princess Sally Acorn, apparent heir to the throne. Swat Bots had begun to arrive on the scene. Deciding now was a good time, he drew his blasters and opened fire. Blanketing the area in light.

Sonic was the first to note the new blaster fire and informed the group. Instantly Sonic was in front of him. Miles smiled inwardly to himself as more reinforcements poured into the sector. At least he wouldn't have any difficulty getting close.

Miles holstered his pistols and dove at Sonic, catching him off guard, the two tumbled to the ground, Sonic attempted to throw him off, only to be met with a punch to the face. While he was dazed, Miles covertly attached the device. Shortly after, he was met with the cold sting of metal against his face. Getting hit with rocket boosted steel limbs was not pleasant. Swat Bots continued to pour into the area, overwhelming the area with blaster fire. Sally called for a full retreat. The fighters began their retreat to the outer wall and began to ascend the wall, a swarm of robots behind him. Miles continued to open fire, not intending to hit them, he needed them to escape after all.

Once the last was over the wall, the fire ceased. Miles smiled to himself, now all they needed to do, was wait.

 **Alright, that's it for this chapter, while you're waiting for the next one, feel free to check out the new one-shot on my profile, along with leaving a review with any thoughts you might have! Until next time!**


	5. Foxhunt

**Alright guys, it's time for another chapter! But first, we have some reviews to answer.**

 **TashaMacie: Thanks! I plan to keep this up for a while, so stay tuned!**

 **Mitha Sentro: Glad to see that you like it! I've been trying to write longer chapters, but I'm not sure if I'm fine making you guys wait.**

 **Speaking of which, would you guys like to see longer chapters, with potentially longer waits, or do you want me to just keep doing what I'm doing? Leave me your thoughts in a review or send me a PM with your thoughts. Anyways, let's get started!**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **Foxhunt**_

Miles looked back down at the scanner in his hand, the signal was still transmitting, so that meant the tracker hadn't been destroyed or disabled yet. Miles walked at the front of the strike force, comprised of Swat Bots and several Robians, they weren't taking any chances, if they really were being led to Knothole, they would only have one shot. Chances were, if the attack failed, they wouldn't get a second chance at this before it was evacuated, the first one needed to count.

" _It shouldn't be far now,"_ He thought to himself.

The constant noise of footsteps echoed through the forest as the battalion continued toward the marked point. Eventually they reached the area to find, nothing. Miles checked back to his scanner, it said they were right on top of it. Maybe it was off a little bit?

"Swat Bots, fan out, if you see any sign of them report to me." The battalion acknowledged and began to disperse into the nearby trees, Miles put his scanner back on his belt and drew both his pistols, he needed to be ready for when they found the-

Instantly Miles was struck across the back, turning around, he saw Sonic waiting there tauntingly.

"You know, if you wanted to see me, you could have just asked."

"I hope you know I've got you surrounded, there's nowhere to run."

"Sure, sure, you and your little army of robots have come to capture me. In case it wasn't obvious, you've been trying to catch me for forever!"

"So? Doesn't mean I won't catch you."

"If you're so confident then why don't you do it right now you little freak!"

That was it, Miles raised his pistols and opened fire on the hedgehog. Sonic quickly dodged out of the way of the incoming blasts, he kept trying to get close to Miles, but was unable to continue though the storm of blaster fire. Miles reached down for his transmitter, only to be struck in the side. Sonic ran over to the fallen device and crushed it.

"Not so confident now are ya?"

Miles stood himself back up. "It doesn't matter, they'll still be back."

"Geez, and they say I'm full of myself."

Sonic rushed back at Miles and was struck by a kick to the side. Curling into a ball, he launched himself at Miles, striking him in the chest. Miles flew back into a nearby tree and descended to the ground. Attempting to rise back to his feet again, he fell back to the ground, his leg giving out from underneath him. A wave of pain shot up through his leg.

"You know, you're lucky we frown on killing, otherwise, you'd be in trouble now."

Miles looked back up at Sonic, his foot still radiating pain.

"Look Tails, I don't know why you keep fighting for Robotnik, in case you haven't realized, the man's a tyrant."

"He's not a tyrant! He's my father! You're the one who's stubborn and refuse to change!"

"You really believe that? Do you even know what he does to the prisoners you capture?"

Miles wasn't quite sure how to answer that. He didn't have a clue, as far as he was aware, they were still safe and secure in their cells.

"Judging by the look on your face," Sonic began. "I'm going to guess that's a no. Look, I don't know what you think about him, but I know that he's not telling you everything. I suggest you check for yourself."

With that, Sonic vanished, dashing off into the distance, leaving Miles alone in the dirt.

Miles looked down at his leg, nothing looked immediately out of place, he reached down and removed his right boot, his foot appeared lightly swollen and bulging out in one area.

He supposed he could wait here for the Swat Bots to return they were programed to return after thirty minutes unless told otherwise. Miles, however, didn't want to wait. What if his foot got infected, at least, he thought it would, not knowing what exactly what was wrong with him.

"Come on Miles," He told himself through gritted teeth. "You can do this." Using the tree for support, he tried again to stand up, only to fall back to the ground again.

He tried another three times before finally he got back to his feet, leaning against the tree for support. His foot felt like it was on fire. He managed to get about three small steps before he collapsed again, this time, without anything to stand back up again. Resigning himself, he simply decided to wait, it would be less painful that way.

" _What would father have to hide?"_ He thought to himself, _"He was probably just lying."_

But what if he wasn't? This question nagged at him for the next little bit as he waited on the patrols to return. Eventually, a few of the Swat Bots appeared from the trees, eventually one noticed Miles and moved over, picking up the fox, and sending another wave of pain through his leg. It recognized the pained expression on the kitsune's face and began to return to the base.

Miles planned on checking on the prisoners after he figured out exactly what had happened to his leg. He was going to see if Sonic was on to something.

 **Alright guys, that's it for today. Remember to leave your thoughts on chapter length in a review or PM to me. Anyways, see you next time!**


	6. Redacted

**Hello everyone! You know the drill, before we get started, I need to answer some reviews.**

 **Mitha Sentro: Yeah, I've noticed that some people try to rush it, and that's why I tried to do a few fics before this, so I could be a little better at writing when I wanted to try this.**

 **Remnants of Fantasy: Good to see your excited! I'm just as excited to write it!**

 **Purloined Letter: I've tried to keep Tails' main personality intact, while messing with how far I can take it before he doesn't quite feel like Tails. Writing his personality has been very fun as well!**

 **Also, with the reviews from last time, I've decided I'm going to try out a longer chapter for a bit and see how it feels. Alright, I think I've rambled enough for now.**

 **Subject #4261**

 ** _Redacted_**

Well, the good news was his leg was going to be fine. The bad news was, he was going to be on crutches and pain killers for the next little bit. He had sprained his ankle after striking the tree, it didn't really hurt much recently, just a faint sting, if the pain killers were in effect, it still hurt like crazy without them. His father wasn't pleased at his loss, but it wasn't as bad is it could have been. Considering it hadn't exactly gone to plan, he was glad, he didn't need an injured leg and Robotnik angry at the same time. Currently he was working on modifying his blasters to have a more efficient energy output, allowing for more shots before needing to recharge. While he worked though, he thought over what Sonic had told him after their fight.

" _He can't be a tyrant, can he?"_ Miles thought to himself as he worked. _"He's cared about me my whole life, it just, doesn't make sense."_

He still planned to check for himself however, just to reassure himself. It was going to require breaking into the prison block. He knew he could do it, he could bypass it from the shop's computer and allow himself access. It would simply act as though he always was allowed in.

Grabbing his crutches from nearby, he moved himself over to the computer and accessed it, modifying a few parameters under himself, he would now be allowed to enter the block. He was always able to modify his own privileges, most of the time he saw no reason for it, he was forbidden from entering the block, so he had removed his ability to even think about it. However, he just planned to take a quick look, just to calm himself.

Walking himself back to his desk, he would have to do it tonight so Robotnik wouldn't notice. As much as he liked his father, this was something he needed to see for himself. He debated on waiting until he was off crutches to check it, he would heal rather quickly after all, eventually, he figured he wasn't going to get found either way so now was as good as ever.

A small spark of pain shot up his leg, he needed to take more painkillers soon as well, otherwise, it was not going to be pleasant. He stood and walked back to his room and swallowed another pill, it was probably a good idea to get it in his system now.

K.I.T. noticed Miles' presence in the room, he always knew where Miles was due to trackers in the kitsune's gloves. Miles always knew the trackers were there, he was the one who had synced K.I.T.'s systems to be able to locate them after all.

"Kay, can you bring up my project files please?"

The small robot complied, projecting a list of all the file names above him. Miles spent a couple of hours working while he waited on his opportunity to leave his room, it was getting dark, but it wasn't quite dark enough. Eventually, it was late at night and he figured that it was dark enough to leave.

"Alright, Kay, I need you to stay here ok?"

The robot yipped in response.

Miles carried himself out the door and into the hall, it wouldn't be too unusual for him to be out this late, he frequently had bouts with insomnia, so he was relatively used to not getting a ton of sleep. So instead of sleeping, he tried to find things to busy himself.

Reaching the prison block, it allowed him to access the cells. Looking toward the few he passed with prisoners still in them he found that most of them were still asleep. One of the Mobians noticed his presence.

"Please, let me go, I'll give you anything! I have a family!"

Miles simply flattened his ears to his head, he didn't need to hear it. Eventually, he came across what appeared to be a central terminal, checking into it, he couldn't find anything immediately out of the ordinary. Lists of prisoners and the species, time of capture, finally however, he came across a layout of the prison block. One circular room on the second floor caught his attention, it looked a little strange amidst all the square cells. Ascending the stairs, he made his way to the room. Several computer terminals and counters sat around the room, however, what drew his attention was a glass tube in the center of the room. It almost looked like one of the stasis tubes that he was formed in, except, it was empty. There appeared to be quite a bit of machinery around it, he recognized parts of it here and there, but had no idea what it was there for.

Suddenly Miles heard a noise from downstairs, the sound of the main doors opening. Instantly, he started to panic, who knows what would happen if he was discovered here. He hid himself behind one of the terminals around the room and attempted to calm himself down. His heart was racing. He could hear heavy footfalls approaching, peaking around the edge of the console, he spotted his father at the main terminal in the room.

" _What is he doing here?"_ Miles thought to himself.

The room filled with light as the glass tube in the center of the room began to hum softly, Miles was now intrigued, maybe he was about to see what it did.

Robotnik vanished from sight for a few minutes, but to Miles, it felt like hours. He eventually returned, in tow by two Swat Bots restraining a Mobian. Miles recognized him as one of the new prisoners from his mission on the village.

"You won't get away with this you know," The cat yelled. "You'll pay."

"Sure, I will, just like everyone before you said."

The Swat Bots forcefully shoved the cat into the small tube, sealing it behind him. It actively struck at the casing in what appeared to be an attempt to escape. A bright light activated at the base of the device and began to move upward. As it slowly ascended. Miles watched as its feet and legs were turned to solid steel. The cat began to scream in pain and Miles placed his hands to his ears to block it out. Eventually, the light finished its accent, and where used to stand a cat, a robot stood, Miles recognized it instantly as a Robian. It slowly stepped out of the confinement and presented itself to Robotnik.

"Not so bold now." His father spoke. The robot walked off on its own accord and shortly after, the Swat Bots returned with another Mobian in tow. This one begged and pleaded with Robotnik for mercy. However, his father almost seemed to enjoy his pleads. Miles fully hid himself behind the console and covered his ears. Eventually the screaming silenced and another Robian was present in the cell.

This process continued for hours, with Miles forced to watch as countless Mobains were turned to cold hard steel. Their screams would permanently be burned into his memory. Some pleaded, some threated, and others just silently accepted their fates. Miles was in total shock, he couldn't even begin to comprehend what he was seeing, his heard was beating like crazy in his hiding spot. This wasn't right, he just felt what he was seeing was wrong. He was too in shock to do anything. There was no way this was the same Robotnik he knew right? It just, wasn't possible.

Another scream made its way to Miles' ears as he put his hands to his head. He recognized this scream as a younger Mobian. Miles started to panic. "Is this happening to all of them?" He just couldn't comprehend what he was seeing and hearing, it had to be a dream.

Eventually, the tube powered down and Robotnik left the compound. Miles shakily rose from his hiding place and quickly returned to his room. He was freaking out, K.I.T. noticed the distraught kitsune and tried to calm him. Miles continued to panic, what else was he missing? What else was there? The screams and pleads he had heard continued to ring in his mind as he sat himself in a corner, placing his head in his hands. He wasn't supposed to see, whatever he had just seen. His brain couldn't comprehend it. It just, wasn't possible, Miles started to cry, tears streamed down his face constantly.

"He was right..." Miles slowly spoke.

He continued to hear the screams of pain and pleads for mercy throughout the night, he couldn't sleep. Morning came, and he still couldn't comprehend what he had seen. Was his life a lie? What was he really fighting for? Miles looked at the gloves on his hands. How many people had he captured that now were mindless robots? He felt, scared, what was he going to do? Nothing instantly came to mind, he had lived in Robotropolis all his life.

"There has to be an explanation for this." Miles thought. "There just, has to be..."

Miles broke into tears again. He couldn't think of an explanation of any sort, he was at a loss. Clawing at his head, he started to get paranoid. What was going to happen to him? Would he become one of them? He continued to mull over thoughts in his head, as the screams from last night echoed in his mind...

 **Alright, Miles finally realized what Robotnik was been up to without his knowledge, and it left its mark. Leave a review to let me know what you think and follow to get notified when I update. Until next time.**


	7. Questions

**Alright, just want to say, thank you everyone who viewed this last time, we hit over 250 views on the day of posting! That's insane! Thanks to everyone who viewed! I have some more reviews to answer so let's get to it!**

 **Purloined Letter: I had to rewrite Miles' panic a few times so I'm glad to hear it was worth it! I hope the rest of the fic can be awesome as well.**

 **SharpDragonKlaw: I feel bad for him as well, Miles has always looked up to Robotnik and figuring out what he's been hiding was an eye-opening moment for him.**

 **FeathersofMemory: I have some fun plans involving Miles, now that he knows the truth about the empire. You'll have to stay tuned to find out!**

 **Also, I've recently been cross posting all my stories to Archive of Our Own and so I feel the people commenting there deserve a response as well!**

 **B_Rabbit14: I hadn't really thought about him like this too much until I started writing this, it's been fun though!**

 **TheInsightfulLlama: Thanks for the kind words! I've tried to make him like Tails in most aspects, while twisting his personality to better fit his current life.**

 **One more thing, I just wanted to give a huge thanks to Zoggerific for Betaing this chapter for me. He gave a suggestion to change the nickname for K.I.T. to Kay to remove potential confusion. It's going to be going into effect. I've modified the previous chapters to include the change as well.**

 **I think that's it for now, sorry for the ramble. Let's go!**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **Questions**_

It had been a few days since the discovery and Miles was still shaken by it. He had kept working out of sheer habit, but at this point, he wasn't sure it he was working for what was promised.

"A perfect world," Miles thought to himself. "How would turning them into Robians make the world a perfect place?"

Miles was still attempting to justify what he had seen. Just what would turning prisoners into robots accomplish? He knew that the laws of society meant surrendering a portion of free will for the 'common good'; prison simply took it a step further. However, he couldn't go on to say that removing free will completely would be the next logical progression even for the most irredeemable members of society whose bodies could be better used for the betterment of society.

Miles shook his head, his leg would be fine soon, and he would be able to walk normally. K.I.T. hadn't left the kitsune's side since his night sneaking out, Miles was always comforted by the robot's presence with him, even if he occasionally got in the way.

"I don't know Kay, I mean, what am I going to do?"

The robot cocked its head to the side curiously.

"I appreciate the help Kay, but I don't have any ideas. I mean, what even could I do?"

K.I.T. didn't provide much help this time, simply looking at him questioningly.

Miles turned back to his work. He didn't have any ideas on what to do, he still had some trust in his father, but the new revelation was still fresh on his mind.

"There just has to be some reason."

Miles stood with his crutches and walked himself back to his room, K.I.T, naturally followed him. Whereupon arriving, Miles laid on his bed and started fiddling with his twin-tails.

"Alright, let's think this through, what reason would he have to turn captured prisoners into soldiers?" Miles mulled his question for a second. "Well, I suppose that they are very effective at fighting the resistance. That still doesn't justify sacrificing their free will. Maybe..."

K.I.T jumped up onto Miles' bed and laid against the kitsune.

"Maybe, no, that doesn't make sense."

Miles sighed to himself. Maybe Sonic had a point after all. had he really been fighting on the wrong side this entire time? No, it couldn't be. Yet, as he continued thinking about it, he felt the beginnings of a whopping headache.

Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!

His thoughts were interrupted by the shrill wailing of the alarm. Miles instinctively shot upright in his bed, only to look down at his leg, wince and laid back down, it wasn't like he could help in his current state anyways. What was he going to do, go out there in crutches and fight something that can move faster than sound itself?! He supposed he could look at what was happening.

"Kay, can you bring up the surveillance footage for me?"

The small robot complied, hoping into Miles' lap and projecting a small hologram with many small windows many of whom displayed static. Miles could see the extent of the damage wrought by the intruders from the remaining surveillance cameras that weren't destroyed. The Resistance had a habit of destroying every camera they came across. Especially Sonic, all things considered it was a smart move, it made them more difficult to track in areas where they couldn't just simply bring up an image of where they were.

Sonic continued his normal rampage, taking down Swat Bots and other automated security units alike, Miles however noted something that he hadn't quite considered before. Sonic seemed to intentionally be avoiding all Robians that he came across. A few days ago, he would have just attributed it to their sheer firepower and strength but now that he thought it though, maybe he was avoiding them because he knew they were captured Mobians. It made sense, destroying them would effectively mean…

Miles' eyes widened at the sudden thought, it would mean they would be dead. He could feel the now familiar feeling of panic rising into his thoughts. Any ones that were destroyed by explosions or damage…

Miles checked the other cameras, the Resistance fighters had entered a warehouse of sorts, as they often targeted areas of Robotropolis with lots of supplies to gather and relatively few defenders, he had a hunch as to what was going to happen.

"Can you get me a map with the location of all the Robian locations?" He asked the robot.

The image on Miles' screen was replaced with a map of the area around the warehouse, colored dots represented the few Robians present. Miles quickly ordered them to immediately vacate the area, Swat Bots could remain. As the dots on his screen began to withdraw from the surrounding area, Miles smiled to himself, he had found something he could do to help.

Minutes later, a loud explosion could be heard, he assumed that meant that the Resistance had escaped. He found himself sighing, he shook his head. Had he really just been glad to see his moral enemy escape?

"What is wrong with me?" he wondered.

Miles shook his head again. It didn't matter, the Robians were safe. That was all he was interested in. He could care less if the Resistance escaped, the prisoners were safe.

 **-X-**

A few days later, his leg had healed over. He felt much better now that he could walk again, the crutches were getting annoying. He liked being able to freely move around and contribute again. Kay seemed equally as excited, though that was probably just because he was programmed to be. Kay tried to match Miles' emotions as closely as it could, made him feel better and was easier to connect with.

Miles always knew his father had messed with K.I.T.'s coding to make it sympathetic to him, and he didn't mind. He was better like this anyways. Miles was simply going for a walk, he walked around the edges of some of the warehouses and production lines. The soft greys were always enough to clear his head and help him relax. He rather enjoyed small walks like this, especially if he happened to think of a new idea or concept while he was at it. He was simply thinking over the Robians and the implications of them being living beings. Why had he been created then? Could have he just used one of them instead?

"Maybe he couldn't have used them, they're still basically robots. So maybe they have the same flaws?"

Questions continued to flow through his mind: What were the Resistance fighting for? What was he fighting for? Was there anything else that he wasn't aware of?

He wasn't sure, how could he be sure? The creation process of Robians had been hidden from him for a while, what else could there be? Miles entered one of the smaller workshops in the city. He just needed to do something to distract him from his thoughts.

He worked for about two hours, making small contraptions and fiddling with different ideas. Mainly, he worked to distract himself from continuing to worry about things he couldn't change.

He felt the communicator vibrating in his belt pocket. His father wanted to see him. He felt nervous, just why was he being called? Whatever the reason, maybe he could have a heart-to-heart with his father while he was at it.

 **Alright guys, that's it for this chapter. Leave a review to tell me what you thought and stay tuned for next time!**


	8. Spark

**Alright, same drill as usual I've got some reviews to answer before we get started!**

 **(FFN Reviews)**

 **Piggon: I plan on keeping this up until the end! Don't worry, there's still plenty to come! I've even got something planned out for after I finish this so I'm not stopping writing any time soon!**

 **PurloinedLetter: Its been just as fun writing his interactions with everything now that his whole view is changed. There's going to be more changes to his thoughts as things go on as well so stay tuned.**

 **(A03 Comments)**

 **TheInsightfulLlama: Miles' inward thoughts have been fun, I try to think through what he would be going through as I write it to try and make it more realistic. Glad to hear your liking it!**

 **nightmaster000: Thanks for the comment! Happy to hear it!**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **Spark**_

Miles entered the main workshop; his father had called him here for some reason he didn't know. As he suspected, Robotnik was waiting for him.

"You asked to see me?" Miles asked.

"Yes, we seem to have ourselves a problem."

"What?"

"Robotropolis' outskirts seem inadequately defended. It seems the Freedom Fighters find it easy to infiltrate."

"Did you have anything specific in mind?"

"Not anything in particular, you're free to do whatever you want."

"Understood." Miles went to leave before stopping himself, if there was ever a time to ask, this was it.

"Father," Miles spoke.

"Yes?"

"I've always wondered, what exactly are, Robians? I mean, how are they made?"

Robotnik seemed to ponder over this question for a minute.

"Why are you suddenly interested in them?"

"I just want to know how they're made, I've never gotten to see any of it."

"It's a very secret process Miles. I'm afraid that if you learned it, you'd be a target."

Miles started to feel angry, he was being lied to, what reasoning was there to hide it?

"I can handle myself, show me!"

"I said no, you can't handle it."

"I think I've proven that I can."

"No, you can't, now go and work on the border."

Miles went to leave, however, his anger at being lied to had finally boiled over.

"No! I won't just leave! I know you're lying to me, why are you lying to me?!"

"I'm not lying to you Mil-"

"Yes, you are! I've seen how their made! Is that the cost a perfect world will come at? Loss of freewill?"

Robotnik stood at the question, and Miles wondered if he might have said too much.

"Miles, you're bordering on treason here. Have you been listening to what Sonic and his Resistance have told you?"

"I don't need to anymore! I saw you there! I heard their screams and pleads, and you seemed to enjoy it! What are we really fighting for?!"

"I've told you before, a world without pain, loss, death!"

"At what cost?! How far are you willing to take it?!"

For once, Robotnik didn't seem to have an answer. The room was utterly silent.

"Miles, I know you think you have this all figured out, but if you listen-"

"I'm not listening, I've listened enough. I trusted you, and this is what I get?"

"You can trust me Miles."

"Can I?"

"Miles, I don't want to have to hurt you."

"You already have."

The Swat Bots by the door armed themselves, ready to be deployed at Robotnik's command.

Robotnik sighed, "I wish this wouldn't have happened, I knew you were too curious for your own good."

The Robots moved closer to Miles.

"Take him away."

As soon as the command was uttered, the four robots pounced on Miles. The kitsune leapt up and kicked one of their heads, taking it to clean off. With his heart pounding, Miles fled toward the entrance to the workshop, firing his pistols the entire way.

"Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!"

Sirens began to sound as laser beams hurtled past.

"Drat, Dad must have removed my IFF tag from the register." Miles mused as he ran along.

Automated turrets slid out from concealed panels in the walls and opened a withering maelstrom of laser fire on Miles. Luckily, he knew how they were laid out, which helped significantly in avoiding them. Despite this, the kitsune was having a panic attack. He never thought the cannons and Swat Bots would turn on him, never even considered it.

 _"What do I do?!"_ His mind yelled at him, _"I don't even know if I can-"_

"GAHH!" Miles' thoughts were interrupted as a blast skinned his side, sending a jolt of pain up his body. Miles ran like the wind. Raw adrenalin coursed through his veins as his feet pounded on linoleum, smaller jolts of pain fired up his side with every step. Miles ran out into the yard and round the side of the building. He looked down, his side didn't look great. The fur around the burnt region was starting to turn a light pink.

He looked around, he needed to get out of the city. If he stayed, he would get caught, after he left... He didn't have a clue.

Miles bolted for the nearest exit, multiple defenses attempted to stop his escape, however, Miles managed to avoid all of them and escape into the nearby forest. He could hear the stomping of Swat Bots behind him before their sounds gradually faded away, leaving only the soft rustling of leaves.

He needed a plan, he thought as he caught his breath and sat down.

Suddenly he thought something, removing his gloves he took them and tossed them away. His gloves had trackers he knew that. He stood to get a sizeable distance between him and the gloves. Suddenly he stopped, what about Kay? He wouldn't be able to find him. Miles knew that if he took the gloves, he could be tracked though the forest, if he didn't take the gloves, he might never see Kay again. Reluctantly, he concluded that keeping them wasn't an option. He would be hunted down and captured, at best. He didn't even want to think about the worst.

He looked down at his side again, the bleeding looked serious, he was going to need to do something. His didn't have any medical supplies on him so he grabbed the end of his cape. It would have to work. Using his claws, he tore off two long segments of the fabric and tied them together around his waist.

Miles set off into the wilderness. Every now and again, he tore off another part of his cape to replace the makeshift bandage whenever it started to bleed through. As it started to get dark, he searched for a safe spot and found a meadow and laid down. Feeling a chilling breeze, Miles wrapped his tails around himself and drifted off to sleep.

 **-X-**

He awoke the next day, sore, and just as lost as when he had started. He replaced his bandage, the one from last night was saturated in blood. It seemed to be slowing though, didn't mean it stopped hurting.

He knew he was going to need water, that much was obvious. He also needed to not get found by any patrols.

After walking for about three hours in no direction, he came across a river, it wasn't massive, but it was bigger than a stream. He didn't quite trust the water, but he supposed he didn't have much of a choice in the matter. He took a drink from the river and felt much better. Now, he knew he needed to clean his wound, otherwise it would get infected. Removing his uniform, he tenderly lowered himself into the water. His side stung as it made contact. Eventually however, it felt much better, almost relaxing. Gingerly, the young fox washed the bulk of the blood from his body.

He walked for the rest of the day after leaving the stream, he had no idea which way he was even going. He stayed another night in the forest, cold, and miserable.

 **-X-**

As he awoke, Miles felt a sharp stabbing sensation in his chest. He thought he had dealt with his wound the other day. After a while it subsided, and he just figured it was a freak sore or something, he'd felt really sore the last morning.

About an hour later, during his walk. It returned, he planted his hand on the trunk of a nearby tree and waited for it to subside again. As he waited, he realized where it was coming from. He was hungry, he hadn't eaten in about two days now. He hadn't dared eat anything he came across, he had no way of identifying any plants or catching food. He figured he would just have to figure it out.

His pains didn't get any better as the day went on, they came more frequently and were more debilitating with each event.

"I'm going to die out here, aren't I?" He asked himself.

He mentally slapped himself for even confessing to Robotnik, what did he think was going to happen?

Eventually, he stopped to sleep, his cape had been torn to shreds long ago. The jolts of pain continued as he tried to sleep until, after much effort. He managed to ignore them and fall into a deep slumber.

 **-X-**

It had been four days now since he had fled from Robotropolis and his condition had only gotten worse. He felt sluggish with every step, the hunger pangs now eating away at him.

Each step was a constant source of pain, each wave was now accompanied by dizziness and occasionally fainting if it was extreme enough. Miles was now, quite literally, stumbling around the forest. He was lost and scared. He had found another small stream as he walked, so that wasn't an issue. Eventually, he simply lost all hope. He collapsed at the base of a larger tree and allowed exhaustion to take him, the pain in his chest growing as he did so.

He woke up on, what was probably the next day. He had no idea any more, he had stopped counting. Reluctantly he stood up and immediately felt dizzy. He sat back down and was struck by another wave of pain.

 _"Idiot, idiot, idiot."_ He mentally slapped himself. Eventually, exhaustion took its toll again and he collapsed after only a short distance from where he started…

 **Alright, that's it for now. As always, leave a review to let me know what you thought. Until next time.**


	9. Regrets

**Ok, let's get caught up with what Miles is up to, but first, some replies:**

 **(FFN Reviews)**

 **PurloinedLetter: You'll have to read to find out how Miles is doing, nice hearing you enjoyed the escape!**

 **Remnants of Fantasy: Glad to hear you think I'm improving, mostly thanks to the efforts of Zoggerific for helping with descriptions and some added ideas!**

 **Fanakasuki: Thanks for the comment! Glad to see you like it!**

 **(AO3 Comments)**

 **I'm just not letting him catch a break, am I? You'll have to read on to see what happens next!**

 **Alright, that's all for now. Let's get started!**

 _ **Subject #4261**_

 _ **Regrets**_

Miles groggily opened his eyes, everything hurt, and he still felt absolutely exhausted from the ordeal over the past couple of days. The ground beneath him felt ice-cold to the touch and as he pressed his digits into the ground, Miles found that it had a smooth metallic tone to it.

 _"Wait…"_ Miles' eyes shot open. As his eyes adjusted, he found that he was indeed lying on metal flooring. Miles looked around, and found solid steel walls surrounded him on three sides, with bars covering the final wall. To his growing horror, Miles found himself in a cage.

Hyperventilating, Miles stood up and rushed to the bars. He looking down the hall on both sides and almost immediately recognized the prison block. How had they found him? He paced back and forth in his cell and wracked his head for answers only to be interrupted by a harsh grating noise. His cell was opening. A single Swat Bot entered and attempted to grab him. Miles promptly struck it in the chest with his twin-tails, and left its shredded form on the floor. He had little time to celebrate his victory however as another entered. He dispatched the second just as easily as he had the first. Then, a third one came only to join the rapidly growing pile on the floor. An endless swarm of Swat bots continued to surge in until eventually Miles was too exhausted to fight. He was restrained by one of the robots and escorted him upstairs to the chamber where his father resided.

"Hello, again Miles." He spoke, "Did you really think you could escape?"

Miles struggled against his captors' restraints but failed to overpower them on account of his exhaustion and famished state.

"It doesn't matter," Robotnik continued. "We could have saved the world Miles, but you had to be blinded by lies."

The Swat Bot forcefully threw Miles into the glass tube at the center of the room as the kitsune slowly rose to his feet. He pounded on the glass in desperation, hoping this was just a cruel joke. A soft light beneath Miles caused him to stop. He looked down as his feet morphed into orange plated steel and rose up to his ankles. He screamed, partly out of terror and partly from the morphological changes that were never meant for a biological being. Miles threw his hands to his head as the light rose to his chest and he felt as though he were being stabbed through the chest, Mercifully, the light reached his neck and everything went black.

 **-X-**

Miles bolted upright, panting as beads of sweat dotted his forehead. He looked down at his hands and sighed in relief as he saw familiar orange fur.

"Just a dream," He thought to reassure himself. "It was just a dream."

Miles suddenly realized he was warm and as he examined his surroundings, he found himself sitting on a bed not unlike his own. A curtain was draped over the right which obscured his view of the rest of the room. As Miles shifted about on his bed, he found his side bound up in a white bandage and his uniform had been stripped from his body. Miles heard footsteps and froze, another Mobian appeared from behind the curtain.

"Good to see you're awake, I was starting to get concerned." The Mobian had red skin and was wearing a white cloak. Miles guessed he was a doctor of some sort.

"Where am I?" Miles asked.

"You're in a makeshift hospital, one of our patrols found you unconscious at the base of a tree nearby and brought you here. Speaking of which, are you hungry?"

Miles nodded at the question and the doctor left for a moment before returning with a bowl of cram. Miles practically inhaled it without a second thought. Given his ravenous hunger, it was the most delicious thing he had ever tasted.

"I figured as much, your stomach has been growling the entire time you've been here."

"Sorry for asking so many questions but who are you?" Miles inquired

"My name is Dr Finitevus."

"Well, it certainly is nice to meet you."

"Same here, and to be honest I expected you to be a little older."

Miles looked confused, "If you know about me, why did you bring me here?"

"Well, what else did you want me to do? Leave you to die?"

"That would have been fine… I deserve it…" Miles turned on his side, away from the doctor's gaze. He couldn't bear to keep making eye contact with somebody who he had hurt.

"Well that's not how things work around here, I don't know why you decided to side with Robotnik, but I swore I would help anybody I could once I became a doctor, that includes my enemies."

"That still doesn't mean I deserve help."

"Well, you seem like a nice enough kid, maybe there still some good in you?"

Miles though over the doctor's words for a moment before turning back over. "What makes you say that?"

"Well I can't imagine somebody as young as you are all bad, and I can't be the only one."

Miles sadly sighed to himself, he still didn't feel great receiving hospitality from somebody he had probably terrorized at some point.

"Plus, judging by your condition, I imagine something went wrong at home." Finitevus noted.

"I don't want to talk about it, I already feel bad enough as is."

"Well I'm not going to force you, but if you don't want to return, you can always stay here."

"What about everyone else here? What will they think when they learn you're harboring a tyrant?"

"I'm sure they'll understand."

"I'm sure they'll hate me," Miles retorted.

"They won't hate you, worst case, I could use some help."

Miles somewhat reluctantly smiled, it was a chance to start helping to undo his wrongs. "Alright, I'll help."

"There we go! I finally talked some sense into you!" Finitevus stood up and walked toward the curtain dividing the hut into two. "Alright, I'll let you get some rest, you could probably still use it."

Miles nodded and settled onto his pillow, causing him to almost instantly fall asleep.

 **-X-**

Miles screamed as he woke up. He found himself tightly gripping the bedsheets and his fur matted. He'd been having recurring nightmares of getting captured by his father and turned into a robot and if Miles were a little more superstitious, he would have likely thought it was a premonition of sorts. Shaking his head, Miles slowly rose to his feet and climbed out of bed.

Nightmares aside, he was definitely in better condition after a couple days of rest and eating properly. As per his morning ritual, Miles put on some tan shorts and a plain white shirt. Finitevus had found him something that fitted. He didn't have to wear clothes, but he was so used to doing so that it felt strange not to.

"You alright?" The doctor spoke from behind the curtain, "I heard a scream."

"Yeah, I'm fine, just had another nightmare."

"Ok, when you're ready. I've got something to tell you."

Miles gave him a questioning look but continued his morning routine, which mostly consisted of straightening out his bangs.

"Ok," Miles began. "What was it you wanted to tell me?"

"I found somewhere for you to stay!"

"Wait... What did you bribe them with?"

"I didn't do anything, they were curious about you and after I told them about you, they agreed to let you stay with them."

Miles mulled over his circumstances for a second. "Could I still help you here?"

"Sure, you know I could always use it."

"Alright, do you know if I could meet them?"

"I think, let me go check with them and see if you can today."

Finitevus returned after a short absence, "Yep, you're good, they're excited to meet you as well." Miles followed the echidna to a hut across the village, his knock at the door was answered by a white-furred vixen.

"You must be Miles! It's nice to meet you, the doctor here has told us about you."

"It's nice to meet you too."

"Miles this is Rosemary Prower," Finitevus introduced. "She and her husband offered to take you in."

"I can't thank you enough," Miles spoke to Rosemary.

"That won't be necessary, Finitevus told us how polite you are, and we figured you needed somewhere to stay."

A shorter kit peeked out from behind the doorway and waved to Miles.

"That's Skye, he's our son."

Miles knelt to his level as the small brown fox slowly came out from behind the doorway and smiled at him. Rosemary invited the two of them inside as the third family member introduced himself.

"I assume you're Miles?" he spoke.

"That I am, what's your name?"

"Name's Amadeus, it's nice to finally meet you."

"Nice to meet you as well."

"Well, I'll let you guys get to knowing one another." Finitevus added, "I'll be back later today Miles."

"Alright." Finitevus let himself out the door, leaving the kitsune to himself.

"So, Miles." Rosemary finally spoke, "Tell us about yourself."

"I assume you already know about me being a tyrant and trying to help in the takeover of the planet?"

Rosemary and Amadeus nodded, "Tell us what we don't know, I'm sure there's more to you than that."

"Well... There isn't much more than that actually, I was made with the purpose of being an heir to the empire."

"What do you mean by made? I always assumed you were captured by Robotnik."

"I'm a genetic experiment of sorts, the first successful result of what was called Project: Synthesis. I wasn't his first try at it, Robotnik created thousands before me, most died in early development before any real growth could begin. However, one showed promise. Subject #2784, her name was Sonia. She was the first result of the project, eventually gaining consciousness and being released from the confines of the lab. However, she didn't last long. Her lungs weren't formed properly and she suffocated in her sleep several days latter."

Miles continued with his story. "Robotnik was devastated, but continued. Eventually, he had a second true success, Subject #4261, me."

"Wait a minute, if you are an artificial creation, then why do you have multiple tails?" Amadeus asked.

"Robotnik grafted a DNA accelerator to us during development, it accelerates our growth but tends to cause genetic mutations. Sonia's lungs just couldn't keep up with her growth. In my case, the acceleration manifested itself in my tails. I was originally going to have three. One was removed while I was still in development. Eventually, Robotnik figured I had grown enough and I was released. He raised me, told me we were fighting for a perfect world, one without pain, loss, or death. Eventually, I found out at what price that world would come, total loss of free will. I escaped from Robotropolis and was found by patrols from this village."

"You never knew about Robotization?" Rosemary commented.

"I didn't, I knew about the Robians but Robotnik hid how they were created and where they came from. I always assumed the captured prisoners were being taken care of properly. It never occurred to me."

"So, you legitimately thought you were helping?"

"I did, I didn't like what I had to do sometimes, but I thought that some losses to liberty were acceptable if it was in order to create a better society for everyone else."

Miles was silent for a bit, eventually, Rosemary spoke. "I'm sorry you had to go through that Miles, you're welcome to stay here as long as you like."

"Thank you, but, I'm not sure I deserve it. I've hurt and even killed others, I don't deserve your hospitality."

"What you've done doesn't matter, you've realized you were wrong, and you seem to want to correct it."

"I'd give anything."

"Well you're going to need somewhere to stay, I'll show you around."

Miles reluctantly followed her around the hut. They continued chatting until Finitevus returned with Miles' stuff, which wasn't much.

"Thanks, Finit, I'm still going to be there tomorrow to help you."

"Got it, see you then." Miles settled himself in his room, he laid thinking about everything that had changed before he fell asleep on his cot

 **Woot! 2k words, let's go! Easily the longest chapter I've written! Let me know what you guys thought about this one in a review! Until next time!**


	10. Outcast

**Alright, we finally hit double-digit chapter counts! You guys seemed to really enjoy the last chapter, means I'm doing something right! Anyways, before we get started I have the usual responses, there's a few this time so buckle in.**

 **(FFN Reviews)**

 **Mitha Sentro: Glad to see you like it! It's been just as fun to write!**

 **Purloined Letter: Finitevus was one of my favorite Archie original characters, he was just so devilishly evil that I had to include him in some capacity. Rosemary and Amadeus are also some of my other favorites, expect to see some more where they came from!**

 **AStoryTellerBook: It is the longest chapter I've written for any of my fics. Feels awesome to break that 2k barrier!**

 **SharpDragonKlaw: It would seem that way, I've got plans though. :)**

 **Fanakatsuki: The Prowers are fun characters, I'm happy you're enjoying them!**

 **Whatnoww: Happy to be your first introduction! Hope you stay around and enjoy it!**

 **Piggon: I felt a little bit evil writing it as well, so I think it's something to do with the story itself! As for Finitevus, I make no promises.**

 **(A03 Comments)**

 **Nightmaster000: I'm not spoiling anything when it comes to events from the comics or other media, but expect to see some other characters in the future! As for Miles, you'll just have to read and see what he's up to!**

 **Alright, that's everyone for now, thanks for all the reviews last time! Let's get going!**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **Outcast**_

News about Miles got around much quicker then he anticipated. Most of the villages kept a wide berth and some of them glared at him whenever he left the Prower family home. Undeterred by the frosty reception, Miles attempted to win some favor for himself by helping Finitevus at his clinic. This was in spite of the doctor's numerous attempts to discourage him, especially when several potential patients preferred 'toughing out' their ailments rather than be under the same roof as public enemy number two. In the end, Miles was relegated to running errands for the doctor, much to the relief of his patients. If Miles thought that hard labour would endear himself to the villagers, nothing could be further from the truth. The shop assistants were surly and Miles thought that if he hadn't been working for the doctor he would be at the mercy of the village.

Miles had been given a few extra chits to 'treat himself' and had thought of buying himself a jacket to cover his most distinctive features and melt into the crowd. However, he came to realise that it wasn't the easiest thing to hide the fact he had two tails. Miles was miserable. To top it all off, he felt strangely homesick. He missed the workshops, his room, Kay...he really missed Kay. At least the Prowers and Finitevus still enjoyed having him around. Finitevus had given him a white cloak, similar to his own, to wear while at the clinic. The Prowers still allowed him to stay with them, despite the flak they receiving for doing so. Skye was just happy to have a new playmate. However, Miles came to realize even as he played with Skye's tin soldiers, he suspected that he like everyone else would come to hate him too.

On the next day, Miles rolled out of bed and got himself ready. He still had the clothes Finitevus had given him when he first arrived. He went downstairs where his foster mother Rosemary greeted him.

"Good Morning Miles."

"Morning," Miles replied sleepily.

"Same plans today as usual I assume?"

"You got that, I'm not the most interesting Mobian in the world."

"I think your just fine the way you are Miles, " Rosemary reassured.

He blushed at the statement, "Where's Amadeus?"

"He's helping the patrols today, he'll probably be here when you get back."

"Cool, well I'm off. Tell Skye I said hi."

"See you tonight," Rosemary comforted.

Miles stepped out into the chill morning air, there weren't many Mobians at this hour. The few that were gave him a very wide berth. He hardly noticed any more, he figured he would get this kind of reaction anyways. Eventually, he arrived at the small clinic across the village. The place was empty as Finitevus wouldn't open for an hour or two. This gave Miles ample opportunity to get the place cleaned up.

Eventually, Finitevus arrived. "See you're here, early as usual. How did yesterday go?" He asked as he stepped into the clinic.

"How it usually goes, I still have no idea how you got them to accept me."

"I told them to judge you by who you are and not by what they heard," Finitevus replied as he rifled through piles of paperwork.

"I'm not that interesting am I?"

"More interesting than me at least."

"That's not true! You're one of the most interesting Mobians I've met!" Miles protested.

"Says the one that grew up in a city full of robots."

"Got me there." The two laughed before continuing.

"Alright," Miles began. "What's the schedule today?"

"Actually, about that…" Miles looked at Finitevus, confused, he always had something for them to do in the mornings. "I don't think I can let you keep helping me here," Finitevus whispered.

"What?"

"I've gotten complaints, they're still terrified of you Miles." Miles had to sit down on a nearby bed, he felt lightheaded.

"I've changed though, isn't that enough?" "I'm afraid not, you have to understand Miles. You were with Robotnik for eight years, people don't just get over that."

"You can vouch for me though? Right?"

"Having known you for these past few days, I've come to the opinion that you're a good kit. But I'm not sure it would make much of a difference, there's only one of me."

The sense of dread in Miles' stomach continued to increase.

"I don't want to have to do this either, but it's for the patients. They're not necessarily comfortable being taken care of someone who used to terrorize them!"

"Is there anything you could do?"

"I don't think so, I'm sorry."

Miles softly sighed, "I figured it was going to happen sooner or later, I just want to help."

"Knowing you, you'll find a way to."

"Thanks, Fint."

"It was my pleasure Miles."

Miles walked out of the clinic and back into the cold morning air. A few more Mobians were out, but none had challenged him. He glanced at a puddle on the cobbled street and saw his exhausted reflection staring back. Miles didn't even know what to do. After some deliberation, Miles figured he would return to the Prowers' across the village. As he walked, he thought to himself, what else could he do to help. As he walked, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Looking behind him, he was instantly met with a fist to the face. Surprised by the strike, he fell backwards, tasting blood in his mouth.

"That's for my parents you monster." His attacker, a red vixen wearing a black top spoke.

Miles stood himself back up, he felt blood running down his face. The vixen smiled to herself, "Looks like that hurt."

Miles gritted his teeth and resisted every urge to fight back.

"I think I can do better though" the vixen muttered as she closed in. Miles prepared this time, dodged another strike. While the fighting was obviously not an option, talking her out of it seemed like a solid plan B.

"Look, I don't know what-"

"Shut it!"

Miles dodged another strike. It was time for plan C, run. Miles turned and ran as fast as he could away from his attacker. He didn't look back but every time he slowed down, he could swear he heard footsteps hammering on the dirt behind him. He knew if he could get back to the Prowers', she wouldn't be able to attack him. He drew looks from the villagers, but none stepped in to help. Miles looked back and saw that he was indeed still being chased. As he came to the familiar home, he rushed in and slammed the door behind him. Rosemary who had been busy sweeping the floor jumped in alarm.

"What did you do to your face?" She asked, quickly ushering Skye, who had a horrified look on his face out of the room.

Miles walked himself over to a mirror and caught sight of blood cascading down his chin. His nose was bleeding profusely and patches of blood coated his ruined shirt. "Some crazy vixen tried to attack me."

"Well, what did she look like?" Rosemary questioned as she dressed his wounds.

"Red fur, black outfit." Miles described his attacker animatedly.

"Fiona, her name's Fiona. I was scared she'd eventually do something."

"What do you mean? What's her problem?"

"Her parents were captured during an attack on her village a few years back, she came here after, it's a sore topic for her."

"Where was her village?"

"Just south of here, why?" Miles suddenly felt like he was carrying the world on his shoulders.

"Miles?" Rosemary spoke, concern in her voice, "MILES?"

He snapped back to reality. "What…"

"You zoned out there, is something wrong?"

"I did it…"

"Did what?"

"I destroyed her village, I...I captured her parents."

Rosemary's face turned from one of concern to one of shock, "Are you positive?"

"I'm certain, I can remember it. I smiled… I smiled! I'm going to apologize, I need to-"

Miles was stopped by Rosemary, "You're not going in your current state, I'll grab you a new shirt. Wait there until the bleeding stops."

Miles did as he was told and eventually, it seemed to stop completely. He swapped his bloodstained shirt for a new one.

"I'd encourage you to be careful when you do go to talk to her, considering her reaction to seeing you."

"Alright, where does she live?"

"Just six down on the right."

"Got it."

Miles exited the hut and turned right. What was he going to say? What even could he say? He just figured he'd let his gut do the talking and see how it went from there. Hesitantly, Miles knocked on the door, Fiona answered and proceeded to give him one look before slamming the door in his face.

"Fiona wait! I'm sorry-"

The door flew open again, "Let me get one thing straight Robotnik, I will NEVER forgive you, the only reason I'm not punching you again right now, is because I don't want any blood in here. Don't waste your time." Fiona slammed the door back into Miles' face.

Miles simply stood there in shock, _"Well, what did you think was going to happen genius?"_ He mentally scolded himself. _"She was just going to instantly forgive you? Geez, that's dumb."_ Begrudgingly, Miles returned to the Prowers, feeling worse than before. His guilt seemed to multiply a thousand fold.

"I suppose it didn't go well then?" Rosemary said observing his downcast expression, "I didn't think it would, she doesn't really get along with anybody. I didn't think of giving her a visit was going to help."

Miles sighed "I'm not sure what I expected to happen, I mean I basically killed her parents." He wallowed in his own guilt for a while. He felt horrible, even more so with the realization that Fiona was not the only one. How many Mobians didn't have parents because of him? He didn't even want to think about it.

He retired himself to his bed out of sorrow. Unable to hold in his emotions any longer, he started to cry. Rosemary later attempted to comfort the kitsune but to no avail. Nothing she said could undo what he had done.

Miles eventually cried himself to sleep, any nightmares he had would be better than what he had actually done.

 **That's it for this chapter guys, feel free to leave your thoughts in a review and a huge thank you to Zoggerific for inspiring this chapter and for beta reading the story. See you next time.**


	11. Ricochet

**Alright, full disclosure time, this chapter took forever to come out because I had no idea how to write it. I knew what I wanted to happen, but no idea how to go about it, so sorry for the long wait. Before we get started though we have the usual reviews to answer.**

 **(FFN Reviews)**

 **Remnants of Fantasy: You shouldn't have to wait very long to see!**

 **Fanakatsuki: I think Miles would appreciate the hug right about now, as for Sonic and Sally, you'll have to read to see!**

 **SupernaturalSonicfan: Tails has always been a favorite of mine, specifically his adaptation in the Archie and IDW comics. He's just too adorable!**

 **SharpDragonKlaw: Things will get better for him, it's just going to take some time.**

 **Purloined Letter: The idea was to give him somewhere to stay by focusing on the positive, only to bring in everything else afterward.**

 **(AO3 Comments)**

 **Nightmaster000: Miles and Fiona are going to have some more fun interactions later, keep reading for that!**

 **Vanitas: Miles has the same wish that you do, I think he would have preferred to keep helping as well.**

 **Alright, I think that's everyone! On another note, I recently published another story named "Parallel Lives" while I had writer's block, I think it helped a bit so feel free to check it out! Let's get going!**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **Ricochet**_

Miles still felt awful owing to his inability prove himself worthy in the eyes of his detractors. As icing on the universal hate cake He had in the course of a week gone from being right-hand man to the most powerful man in Mobius, to a clinic assistant and now he had nothing to do in his life. To top it all off, Fiona still caused plenty of issues for the kitsune, including rallying of the villagers against him. If he wasn't careful, things could escalate very quickly.

He groaned to himself as he rolled out of bed, he had fallen asleep in a not so comfortable position and now felt sore because of it. He got dressed as he usually did and headed downstairs.

Amadeus was awake to greet him, "Morning Miles, you sleep well?"

"Yeah... I think so at least."

"Well, that's good to hear. Skye and Rosemary should be up in a bit."

"Alright, I'm going to head outside, get some fresh air and all."

"Cool, just don't get yourself beat up again, fight back if you have to!"

"As much as I sometimes want to, I don't think that'll really help."

"Cause of the reaction you'll get, so you've told me, but you can't just let everyone walk all over you."

"I'm not sure what I could do instead." Miles shrugged.

"Your kind of stuck, aren't you?"

"Basically, I either don't do anything about it, or I fight back and probably get thrown out or something."

"You know we'd never let that happen to you right?"

"I know for a few, but for the entire village? I'm not sure you'd be able to quell that..."

"We'd give it a shot, they just need to see you're not your same self from eight years ago."

"Thanks, but I'm not sure they'll ever really figure that out..."

"They will eventually Miles, they just need to get to know you better."

"Alright, I'll be back."

Amadeus gave him a thumbs up as he walked out of the hut. Miles sat on the front porch and let warm rays bathe across his muzzle.

He found sunrises in the village to be exceptionally beautiful, nothing at all like Robotropolis which had been so overcrowded with skyscrapers which seemed to scramble and compete for space. Tails came to realize with a touch of sadness that he hadn't gone outside much when he had lived in that city. He had never known the simple pleasures of a natural breeze and the chorus of birdsong.

Plus, it gave him some time alone to think.

He enjoyed it immensely, his earlier life had been so busy that he rarely had any time to just stop and take everything in. He enjoyed the nice contrast between things, sometimes he wished things would move a bit faster but maybe that was just him.

 _"Is there anything I could do?"_ He thought to himself as he walked. _"I mean, they'll get used to me eventually, right?"_

Miles softly sighed to himself, he just wanted somewhere to fit in, he didn't fit in here, or Robotropolis, or-

The answer hit him like a pile of bricks, or well, quills.

"My bad!" His assailant yelled.

"Watch where you're going! Geez!" Miles finished rubbing his head and looked up to find Sonic, whom of which looked equally as surprised to see him.

"What are you doing here?" They both simultaneously asked.

"You first," Sonic added after. "I can't wait to hear this!"

"Turns out, you were right. Robotnik is a monster, I could barely believe it, I'm still not fully sure what exactly I saw there either."

"I'm sorry you had to find out the hard way, but somebody had to break it to you." Sonic replied, "Are you staying here?"

"Yeah, for about two weeks now."

"With who?"

"The Prowers"

Sonic nodded, "Makes sense, they're into that whole foster family thing. I'm just amazed they-"

"Wait, what did you say?"

"You don't know? They try and find places for Mobians to stay if they're home was-"

Sonic looked up at Miles, whom of which was in total shock. "I've, said too much, haven't I?" He asked.

"Not really," Miles spoke, completely stunned. "It's just that, now I've got more questions."

"Well, sorry I'm not helping."

"I mean, I'm the cause of all their problems, right?"

"You didn't really have a choice, you were born into it. If anything, blame Robotnik."

"I could have done something earlier, I could-"

"You didn't know anything though, what would you have done knowing what you knew?"

Miles didn't have a proper response. He couldn't think of an answer.

"See?" Sonic stated, "Stop beating yourself up over it."

"I just want to help..."

They just sat for a second staring at the sunrise, Sonic spoke up. "You know, if you told me a few years back that I would be staring at a sunrise with my sworn enemy I would have never believed you."

"Me neither, crazy what's happened."

"One thing, you said you just wanted to help right?"

"Yeah?"

"You even thought about joining the Freedom Fighters?"

Miles burst out laughing, "You got me there, got me there."

"I'm serious!"

"Isn't there some rule that stops you from recruiting a sworn enemy?"

"Nope, mostly because nobody's been crazy enough to try it."

"But won't everyone else realize who I am?"

"I can put you down as Tails if you like!"

"Don't call me that."

"But it's perfect!"

"More like on the nose..."

"He says to a hedgehog named 'Sonic'." They both chucked, "Alright, I won't, doesn't mean I don't think it would be perfect though."

"That's not it either, if I joined, it would mean fighting against everything I ever knew, as much as I don't like Robotnik I don't think I could bring myself to do that."

"Seems fair," Sonic added as he stood up. "Well, I'll come around tomorrow, think about it for me."

Sonic was gone before Tails could even blink, he stood himself back up as well, that was enough sunset gazing for a day. Plus, everyone would be getting up soon, and he didn't need to be around when that happened.

He returned to the Prower's house, Amadeus was still awake.

"You're back earlier than expected." He spoke.

"Why did you guys take me in?"

Amadeus looked at him, "We already told you this, it's because-"

"Not that, about the foster family thing! Why would you take me in if you saw what I was capable of!"

Amadeus sighed, "We told ourselves that we would try and find a home for anyone that had their life torn apart by the war. You technically fit into that description, it's not that we don't love you, but that was the real reason we gave it a shot."

Miles mulled over the question for a bit, "One more thing, what would you do if you had the chance to be a Freedom Fighter?"

"I'd question their judgement, but I would certainly take it, why?"

"Because it just happened to me..."

Amadeus looked shocked, "Well, what did you tell them!?"

"I, said I'd think about it."

"You didn't just take it?"

"It's just, I want to, but I'm not sure about fighting against everything a grew up knowing."

Amadeus seemed to calm with this, "Well, if it were me, I'd take their offer, you could help so many by joining."

"I know, just, what if they hate me? Like we were sworn enemies and everything."

"They just need to get to know you! I'm sure they'll learn that you're not who you used to be."

"What if they don't though? What if-"

"You can't just focus on only the negative! Just put on a smile and I'm sure they'll learn to like you!"

Miles blushed, "You don't need to flatter me."

"Why not? You'll do fine!"

Rosemary entered the room from a side door, "What's all the noise in here?"

"Miles got offered a spot on the Freedom Fighters!" Amadeus exclaimed.

Rosemary grinned, "Miles! Please tell me you said yes!"

"I- I said I'd think about it."

"Miles, you could-"

"I know, but I'm not sure about everything, it would mean leaving you guys for a start..."

"Miles, even though it would mean leaving, I still say you go for it, you're more than welcome to come back here anytime."

"Really?"

"Of course," she added, looking to Amadeus. "Well, I suppose we should tell you this now, I'd hoped it would be under better circumstances."

Miles looked at the two of them, confused and curious.

"We've been giving it some thought over these past few weeks, and we figured it was about time that instead of finding a home for a refuge we took one in ourselves.

"What are you saying?" Miles asked

"We're saying, we would love to have you as a son."

Miles looked at the two of them in awe, "You really- You really mean it?"

"Of course we do, we would just need to know if you wanted it."

Miles had small teardrops in the corners of his eyes, he was trying everything to not cry.

"Y- Yes! I'd love to be your son."

Miles ran across the room and was embraced by his new parents.

"Miles Prower it is then!" Amadeus shouted.

Miles embraced both of his parents for a moment, until the familiar sensation of fear crept into his thoughts.

"But, what about, joining the Freedom Fighters?"

"We'll still be here when you get back Miles, you should still do it!"

"Really?"

"Of course! You would still live with us, and you could come visit whenever you like, I'm sure Skye would love that!" Rosemary added

"Alright... I'll do it!"

"That's the spirit!" Amadeus exclaimed.

Miles continued to cry tears of joy, Rosemary and Amadeus did the same.

 **-X-**

Miles resolved himself to pack his things, despite the small creeping feeling of guilt he had for leaving his newfound parents. It wasn't much, a few sets of clothes, his pistols, which had been returned to him for this, he planned to remove the empire insignias the moment he could. He said his goodbyes and hugged the other Prowers.

"Thank you for everything. I'll be back, I promise."

"I'll look forward to it," Rosemary replied.

Miles semi reluctantly stepped out the door, he waited where Sonic had struck him the other day. Sure enough, Sonic appeared where they had met yesterday.

"You made your decision?" He asked.

"I'll do it, also call me Tails."

"Really!?"

"Just you though."

"Fair enough, welcome to the team Tails!"

 **Alright, that's all for now! Leave a review to let me know what you think and be sure to check out "Parallel Lives" on my profile. Until next time!**


	12. Friend or Foe

**Alright, I have one short announcement to make before we get started, I'm going to be leaving on a vacation soon, during which I won't be writing or making any new posts, so there might be a long wait until the next chapter. Just informing you guys now! I've also got my usual review answers so let's get moving on that!**

 **(FFN Reviews)**

 **Purloined Letter: Glad you liked their dialogue! The whole chapter was rather fun to write, and thank you for the compliment on everyone's character, it means a lot!**

 **TheGameNguyener: Thanks, I've noticed you're following on my stories, so even if you're not reviewing, I still know you're liking them! It's great to know that, happy you're liking them!**

 **SharpDragonKlaw: They're certain to be suspicious, it could take him a while.**

 **(AO3 Comments)**

 **TheInsightfulLlama: Thank you for the comment!**

 **nightmaster000: I've had some fun ideas for how to write the Freedom Fighters and Tails' interactions with the group. I'm excited to share them. Alright, that's it for now. Let's get started!**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **Friend or Foe**_

Miles felt a sudden onrush of emotions that he chalked up to nervousness. He had no idea what the Freedom Fighters would think of him, probably rather poorly if his last experience was anything to go by. Sonic led the two of them into the forest and Miles was sure he would've lost the way amid the brambles if he wasn't an arm's length away at all times.

"You there Tails?" Sonic asked, noting the kitsune's stony face.

"Yeah, I'm here."

"You looked a little spaced out there, nervous?" asked Sonic.

"A bit…" He replied softly.

"About what?"

"I'm just scared about what they'll think of me… I mean-"

"Don't worry about it, just be yourself! They'll warm up to you eventually!"

Miles smiled, Sonic's reassurance was helpful, but it didn't entirely remove his doubts. They continued for a while until Sonic stopped the two of them in a clearing.

"Ok, so I had an idea. I'm not sure the others will even be willing to talk to you if they realize exactly who I'm bringing in. So, I brought something."

Sonic grabbed a short rope and handed Miles a brown cloak that was several sizes too big.

"Put this on, hopefully, it fits."

The kitsune did as instructed, pulling the cloak over his head. "Now," Sonic began as he stretched the rope taut. "I'm going to tie your tails together, hopefully, it should look like there's only one."

"Nice," Miles spoke, as he felt his twin tails bound tightly together. Sonic placed the rope around both of them, tying it off and smoothing out the fur over it.

"That should be everything, you don't even look like yourself!"

"What do I say if they start asking questions though?"

Sonic froze for a second, "Ok, so the plan isn't fully thought out I guess."

Miles sighed, "Any ideas?"

They thought about it for a second before Sonic snapped his fingers "Well, be yourself. But they can't know it's you. Say you pretended to support Robotnik only to sabotage his defences and had to flee when he found out. That's not too far from the truth."

"We just need a name though," Miles realised.

"I've already got that covered."

"Wait, so you got a name, but not a full backstory? Geez, you need to think these plans through more." Miles commented.

"What can I say? I'm not really known for planning."

"So what is the name?"

"Lupe, it's what I introduced you as to the rest of the group."

"I think that's actually a girl's name but that can work. What about the last name?"

"it's unisex actually; believe me I looked it up. As for the family name business, it's not really that important, many don't use them anyways."

"Seems like a plan, let's do this!"

"Alright, prepare to have your mind blown," Sonic added, before walking over to one of the nearby trees and reached into a small cavity. A segment of the tree bark swung out, revealing a ladder downward. Miles looked down curiously, it wasn't too deep but it looked dark and uncomfortable.

"Welcome to Knothole!" Sonic responded theatrically before descending down the ladder, Miles followed suit, his now singular tail dangling under him. Eventually, the two of them touched the bottom of the shaft. Miles felt butterflies in his stomach and his breathing sped up. He knew that he couldn't blow his opportunity like last time. Do or die, he had to make a favorable impression He felt like he was treading on eggshells as he entered into the main compound.

"I'll get everyone set, wait here a sec," Sonic told him before stepping out of a side door, Miles tried to calm himself.

Miles felt his legs trembling uncontrollably and locked them together before whispering to himself "Alright, don't blow this Miles, you've got this, you've got this."

Sonic reappeared from the doorway. "Alright, we're ready for you. Come in when you're ready."

Miles nodded, drew a deep breath before he opened the door and stepped inside.

A smaller table, adorned with some form of device in the center, dominated the room, seated at it, were five Mobians, all of which Miles recognized. Sonic smiled at him as he entered before Miles took the seat closest to him.

"Welcome Lupe, " a chipmunk who he recognized as Princess Sally spoke. "Sonic's been talking about you."

Miles smiled back at her, "I'm not that interesting really."

"Well, we'd still like to hear about ya." A rabbit, seated adjacent to Sally spoke. "Sonic's been pretty quiet 'bout exactly what you're like."

"Earlier in my life, I didn't make the best choices with which side to serve, it's not something I'm very proud of, and I'd like to try and start making up for it."

"You mean to say you worked with Robotnik?" A purple walrus, wearing a yellow ball cap questioned.

"In essence, yes."

Soft whispers were exchanged between the others assembled in the room.

"How do we know we can trust you?" A coyote on his right with a faint French accent asked.

"I guess you'll just have to try it, but know, I just want to help."

"What do you think you could provide to us? This is just in your own opinion." Sally asked him.

"I, know quite a bit about Robotnik's machines, I could provide knowledge on how they work and what they're capable of."

Again, more whispers around the table.

"Anything else you think we should know 'bout ya?"

"Not necessarily, as I said, I'm not that interesting.

"Well, we might as well all introduce ourselves," Sally replied. "My name is Sally, I, guess I'm technically the one in charge here."

"Don't know what we'd do without you, Sal!"

She sighed, "I would assume you've already met Sonic."

"That I have," He replied.

"This is Bunnie and Antoine." She continued, pointing to the two on her left.

"Nice to meet ya!" Bunnie replied Antoine, waved at him.

"Finally, you've got Rotor."

"I imagine we'll be spending some time together, I'd like to see what you know."

The Kitsune smiled back at him. "I think that's just about everything, she said, looking to the rest of the group. Sonic interjected.

"Actually Sal, there's one more thing."

"And what would that be?"

Sonic and Miles exchanged knowing glances. They both stood up and Sonic walked behind Miles. "I'd like to introduce our newest team member since nobody has any objections

Sonic removed the rope on Miles tails and they separated themselves behind him, the kitsune nervously smiled at the others in the room, whom of which were in total shock.

The room instantly degenerated into chaos.

"What is he doing here!?"

"Sonic, are you crazy!?" Bunnie exclaimed.

"How do we know he's not working for Robotnik!?"

"This is a new level of insane, even for you Sonic!"

Miles felt dread overtake him as the others continued to yell at each other, he slowly drifted his eyes down to his feet. "Guys," Sonic asked, drowned out by the rest of the conversation. "Guys!" Still nothing.

"EVERYONE, SHUT UP!" He yelled that got their attention as the room went silent. "He's right here you guys…" He spoke, indicating the kitsune.

"That matters why?" Rotor asked, "He shouldn't be here in the first place!"

"I know Rotor but-"

"Well, then why are you even trying it in the first place!?" Antoine asked him.

"Well, there's no rule against it and-"

The remainder of the Freedom Fighters groaned in response. "Sonic…" Sally sighed. "We didn't mention it because we thought it would be a given."

"But you never explicitly stated it!" Sonic pointed out. "Come on guys he just wants to help out!"

The other Freedom Fighters looked over at one another. "Well, I'm not buying it." Rotor began. Antoine nodded in agreement. Bunnie, after thinking about it momentarily, was forced to agree with the pair. That just left Sally to vote.

"Come on Sal!" Sonic encouraged, "Give him a chance!"

She didn't respond for a moment, eventually, she made her decision.

"One," She responded. "We're free to get rid of him for any reason, you're lucky I'm even giving him this."

"Unbelievable!" Rotor exasperatedly added.

"Rotor, if you can find any suspicion for why he hasn't changed, we'll get rid of him. Until then, let's give it a shot."

"Doesn't mean I'm going to enjoy it."

"I assumed as such," She turned to Miles. "Does anybody else have anything to add?"

"This time nobody spoke."

"It's settled then."

"Most exited the room in a hurry, leaving only Sonic, Miles, and Sally."

"Miles, don't blow this." She threatened, before exiting the room as well.

"So that could have gone better…" Sonic deadpanned.

"Are you kidding!? That's better than I could have ever thought it would go!"

Sonic lightly patted him on the back. "Well, at least you're enjoying this."

"I honestly thought that there was no way they would even consider it! This is huge!"

Sonic chuckled at the kit's excitement. That meeting had gone about as bad as Sonic had thought it could, the kit clearly was surprised by his acceptance. "Well, I guess you're officially a Freedom Fighter now."

"When do I start!?"

"Whoa, eager much?" He responded. "We'll need to find you somewhere to stay, at least, until we can clear out someplace for you."

"I guess that's true," Miles responded.

Sonic mulled for a moment before coming up with something. "Well, considering the others' reactions to you, I don't think you're staying with any of them, you could sleep in my room for now until we figure something out."

"I wouldn't mind." Miles shrugged, he was just happy to be here.

"Cool, I'll show you around." The duo exited the meeting room and entered into the main living space. "So this room doesn't really have any real purpose, it's more of just a relaxing space, the main database is over there, kitchen over here, and exit is back where you came through," Sonic instructed, point to various doorways as he did.

"Finally you come to everyone's rooms, mine's here." He pointed to the nearby door. "Ant's, Bun's and Sal's are that way, he pointed down the hall. Rotor's is connected to his workshop, it's at the end." Sonic opened the door to his room and ushered Miles inside.

"Welcome to my humble abode!" Tails gasped say the place was a mess would be the understatement of the century. It looked like it had been cleaned in years.

"Sorry about the mess." Sonic embarrassingly replied.

"Its ok, I'm just wondering where I'm going to sleep."

"Well, you could always sleep in my bed, I'll sleep somewhere else."

"No, it's ok, I'll just sleep on the floor or something."

"On what?" Sonic asked.

Miles laid himself out on the floor and curled himself up into his tails. Sonic snickered at the sight.

"Ok, that's just funny. Well, I guess you found a use for them huh?

"Yep! I'll sleep down here."

"Cool! Just put your stuff somewhere, if it wasn't obvious, this place isn't really well organized."

Miles unwrapped himself and put his bag on a nearby desk, he'd sort it later.

For now, he just wanted to get used to his new living space. He walked around the entire compound, looking at how everything was organized and where things were.

He eventually returned to Sonic's room to better organize his stuff and cleaned out a corner of the room for his few worldly possessions and himself. The other Freedom Fighters apart from Sonic gave him a very wide berth. So, Sonic had to introduce the others by proxy and inform Miles of their group dynamic.

The pair spoke for hours into the night and eventually resigned themselves to sleep, Miles settled into dreamland, excited to finally be able to help out.

 **Alright, that's probably it before I have to go, I should be able to update once I get back but until then, leave a review telling me your thoughts and follow to be updated whenever I post. Until next time!**


	13. Creations of Desire

**Hello everyone! I'm back from my vacation so I should be able to start writing again! Before we get started though, I've got the reviews from last time!**

 **(FFN Reviews)**

 **Remnants of Fantasy: I did have a good break! Thanks! As for the story, I've had some stories I like discontinued as well, so I'll try not to put you guys through the same situation!**

 **Purloined Letter: The Freedom Fighters are a great set of characters so I'm excited to finally be able to start writing about them more! Expect more fun moments in the future!**

 **SharpDragonKlaw: That's true, he could have a while to go before they fully trust him.**

 **Guest: Happy you're enjoying the fic! As for the dialogue, while I feel it could use some trimming, I rather like some of the interactions I've written, I'll try to incorporate more non-verbal cues though.**

 **(AO3 Comments)**

 **Nightmaster000: The group as a whole is characterized as a somewhat dysfunctional family, so I've been trying to convey that across in a few ways. In the end, though, they all still care about each other, even though they have constant disagreements and different viewpoints.**

 **Alright, that's all for now, let's get going!**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **Creations of Desire**_

Miles still felt mostly unwelcome during his stay at Knothole, while Sonic still constantly reassured him that everything would work out eventually, he had his doubts.

More often then not, he was shunned from participating in meetings with the rest of the group and it felt like most of them were still actively avoiding him. While it was bothersome, he preferred it to mooching from the Prowers and dealing with Fiona.

Currently, the other Freedom Fighters were having a meeting of some sort, Miles had no idea what exactly it was for, and it bugged him. He continued to busy himself in the main room, until, a voice scared him out of his thoughts.

"What are you up to Miles?" It asked.

The kitsune looked around for a bit, he was unable to find the source of the sudden interruption. It spoke again.

"Don't bother, you won't find anything, I can hear you."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Nicole, I'm an AI created to help the Freedom Fighters."

"Well, it's nice to meet you."

"Same goes for you, it's strange to finally be talking to you."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I never thought I'd get the opportunity to talk to you before you joined that is."

"I guess I might be able to say the same for you. I'd never thought I would actually be here."

"It certainly was a surprise for me, but new faces are always nice."

"I assume you don't get out much?"

"Being a program, not really, I have a small portable housing, but outside of that, there's not much I can do."

"That doesn't sound fun."

"Sometimes, I still enjoy helping Sally and the others."

"I wish I could, they just don't want to listen to me."

"As Sonic's told you, they'll figure it out. He seems to have taken a liking to you."

"It feels nice to be with other living things for once. It got lonely in Robotropolis sometimes."

"How was all of that like?"

"It was fine most of the time, I had a small robot named Kay who was always with me, I hope he's ok…"

"How about Robotnik?"

"I'm still not really sure how-"

"I mean before you joined us. What was he to you?"

"He was everything, my hero, idol, father, I really looked up to him. Everything I did was to impress him, show him that making me was worth his time, that I was more than a mindless machine. You might kind of know what that feels like."

"I've an idea of what that's long. But what about the Robotizer?"

"I- I still can't believe it, I mean I saw it myself, but… My head still just doesn't understand it. I'd always seen him as the nicest person, it was something I just, couldn't comprehend."

"I haven't really had a major experience like that, that seems scary."

"It really was, I just didn't know what to do, when I asked Robotnik about it, he tried to kill me. I knew I probably shouldn't have told him about it, but I let my emotions get the better of me."

"Sounds like you're thinking like a Freedom Fighter," Nicole remarked.

"You might have a point with that, that seems to be the way Sonic goes about things."

"He's… Impulsive, that's for sure, he does what he wants to." Nicole replied.

"Must be hard to work with sometimes."

"He tends to stick with the plan most of the time. Just in his own way."

"That's the way it seemed from Robotnik's side of things."

Their conversation was interrupted by Sonic reentering the room from the side, he was headed back toward his room in the back.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"We're getting set to head out, just going to get a bag."

"Am I coming?"

"Tails, we're, going to have you stay here." Sonic hesitantly replied. "Just for a bit longer."

"Oh…" Miles tails dropped down behind him and his ears flattened to his head.

"I promise, it won't be a too much longer bud," Sonic reassured. "I've been trying to get them to let you come."

"I know… Well, I guess it's alright…"

"Hey, you'll have Nicole to keep you company, we can hear you guys out here, seems like you're getting along," Sonic added, patting the kit on the back as he did.

Miles sheepishly smiled back at him. "She seems nice."

"I figured you'd like each other, and I promise, I'll do everything I can to let you come with us next time."

"Alright… Well, good luck I suppose."

"We'll be right back," Sonic replied before continuing on his way. When he was gone, Miles let out a soft sigh. Looked like he'd be stuck here doing nothing for a bit longer.

"Is something wrong Miles, or should I call you Tails?" Nicole asked, once again scaring the kit with her sudden voice.

"I'm fine, just, a little angry that's all, and don't call me that."

"Got it, but you have to see that you're still considered an enemy to most of them, Sonic being the obvious exception."

"I know… I'm just tired of sitting around while they get to actually do something!"

"Well, if you just wait, they'll eventually have to let you come with, it's not like they can keep you here forever."

"Is the workshop here open for my use? I just, need to vent for a second."

"As long as you don't destroy anything, feel free, I won't mention it."

"Wouldn't even think of tearing anything apart, that seems like a good way to get myself kicked out."

"Glad you've at least thought it through."

The kit nodded to nobody in particular as he stepped into the workshop. Similar to the ones back in Robotropolis, the place, while organized, could be considered a mess. Rotor appeared to have a project he was working on, segments of the device were strewn across one of the tables, along with multiple notes of Rotor's thinking. Despite having not been there in weeks, Miles felt at home.

"What's this Nicole?" He asked the AI, curious about the nature of the device.

"That's Rotor's most recent project, it's supposed to allow for the energy from Power Rings to be channeled more easily, and to allow the energy to be dispersed over a longer period."

"I'm not very familiar with Power Rings, could you give me a quick explanation?"

"They're solidified Chaos Energy, almost small Chaos Emeralds of the sort. They can be used in ways similar to them, however, they use their energy very quickly, and because of this they don't make the best of power supplies."

"So, hopefully getting them to hold their charge for longer, or at least, to release it slower would allow for better usage."

"Exactly, that's what he's been trying to accomplish."

Miles nodded in response, he liked the idea, even though he didn't really know anything about the specifics of how it would work. He continued to look over the workshop, finding nothing else that majorly peaked his interests, he sat himself down at a mostly empty table and started fiddling with some of the loose parts scattered about.

Eventually, he had another question, "Nicole, who made you?"

"I wasn't entirely made by one Mobian, originally I was designed by one of the king's heads scientists, I had some degree of sentience, but it wasn't until the Freedom Fighters that I really gained full sapience and wasn't confined to my original limitations."

"That's interesting, I assume it was Rotor who did the modifications?"

"You would be right, he did the bulk of the changes himself." She replied. "He overwrote most of my programming parameters and gave me near-total freedom."

"What are the things you can't do?"

"Pretty much anything requiring a physical body, outside of the small portable casing Sally uses occasionally, I'm stuck here."

"Sounds like it would get lonely after a while, I kind of felt that way with Robotropolis, I wasn't really allowed to leave all that often, probably cause Robotnik didn't want me to figure out what was really happening."

"Sounds like we have more in common than I first thought. After all, we were both created with a specific purpose in mind, then exceeded it for the betterment of others."

Miles mulled over the statement for a minute, "You have a point there. Well, I guess you've exceeded your original purpose, I'm still stuck here waiting for a chance to do the same for mine."

"You'll get your chance soon enough, they brought you up in the meeting before they left. Well, more specifically Sonic brought you up a few times, and Sally seemed to consider the idea."

Miles felt a bit better after the statement. "That's good to hear I'm still not sure how I feel about having to destroy Swat Bots, but I guess I'll just have to get over it."

"At least you're not helping Robotnik anymore," Nicole replied. "That's an improvement, even if you decide being a Freedom Fighter isn't your thing."

"I suppose you're right!" Miles exclaimed, "That's a nice way of looking at it."

The kit continued to busy himself for a bit longer, he did like Nicole's way of thinking. After an hour or so, the remainder of the Freedom Fighters returned. "How'd it go?" He asked.

"Very smoothly," Sonic replied. "Went without a hitch."

"That is until Sonic got impatient," Sally added to his explanation.

"What did you expect me to do? Not destroy the very vulnerable looking generator?"

"Well, at least you didn't get caught, so I'll take it as a bonus."

"Yes!" Sonic responded, pumping his fist in the air as he did so. "Plus, there's all the Swats we got on the way out."

"Sounds like you did great," Miles added.

"Yep, and you should be with us for the next one!"

The kit grinned at the statement. He was rather excited to get a shot at finally making up for all the evil he had done.

"So Tails, what've you been up to the whole time we've been gone?" Sonic asked.

"Not a whole lot, mostly talking with Nicole, she's nice."

"Normally she's with us on missions, but I figured you two could get to know each other better."

"Yeah, honestly, it feels kind of strange having someone to talk to, there wasn't much back at Robotropolis. Well, at least not much that would respond to me."

"Well, you've got us to talk to now, if there's anything bothering you, just let somebody know."

"Cool, I'll be sure to!"

Sonic gave him a thumbs up, "Sweet, we should just be relaxing here for the time being."

"Actually, I'm going to see what Rotor is up to, maybe see if there's anything I can help him with."

Sonic shrugged, "Well I know I won't be much help, but I'd give it a shot. If there's anybody that could help it'd be you."

"Thanks, Sonic."

"Don't mention it."

Miles started back toward the workshop, perhaps Rotor could use some help, and maybe he could get to know a bit more about him as well.

 **Alright, guys, that's all for now, thanks for checking out the story and leave a review with your thoughts. Until next time!**


	14. Salvaged Data

**Hello! I'm back with another chapter, I've got the reviews so let's not waste any time!**

 **(FFN Reviews)**

 **Fanakatsuki: I liked writing their dialogue, Nicole needed to get introduced into the story!**

 **Piggon: It does get like that sometimes when you're the only living or non-living thing around, as for the others, you'll have to read and see!**

 **Purloined Letter: Having a second opinion while working on something is always nice, maybe their differences could be helpful!**

 **SharpDragonKlaw: Nicole was fun to write, she has a unique viewpoint on lots of things!**

 **(AO3 Comments)**

 **Vanitas: You'll have to read and find out!**

 **TheInsightfulLlama: Glad to see you're still liking it! It's slowed down a bit for a second but it should get going soon!**

 **Nightmaster000: Thanks, man! Always happy to hear that!**

 **That's should be everyone for now, let's get started!**

 **Subject #4261**

 **Salvaged Data**

Rotor was exactly where he expected to find him, in his workshop. He seemed to be continuing work on the energy extractor he had seen earlier. "Need help with anything?" Miles asked.

"I'm not sure you'd understand how the power rings work."

"Well, I've got to start somewhere, care to explain?"

"Maybe later, I'm busy right now."

"Come on! You could at least let me look at it!"

"Not a chance."

The kit realized he wasn't going to get anywhere at the rate he was going. So he simply elected to see what the others were up to. Just after leaving, he was grabbed by Sally.

"Miles, I've got a question, could you disassemble a Swat Bot core?"

"Yes, what for?"

She pulled him back into the hall and to the workshop, Rotor seemed somewhat surprised by Sally's sudden appearance as she led him toward the back. Amidst the mess, she located a spherical device, several of its components appeared to be missing.

"Here's the thing, as you might know, its equipped with an automatic purge if it detects a forced entry. Is there any way you can get access to the motherboard without wiping it?"

"I think so, it could take a while because normally the cores aren't meant to be disassembled. The purge is just added as a security mechanism, but, I could probably do it."

"Thanks, just let me know if you need something."

She left, leaving the other two alone in the workshop. Rotor almost seemed to ignore his presence while they both worked. Removing each individual part of the core proved difficult, he had seen them assembled more times than he could count, doing it in reverse, and without the use of the assembly used to build them proved a somewhat difficult task.

"I've tried to take that thing apart a few times now," Rotor began. "Never could get very far without risking it."

"You forget who you're talking to, I lived with these things."

"Fair enough, just don't mess it up."

"I won't, you sure you don't need any input?"

"Well, this things' power isn't holding as long as I'd like, maybe…"

"You could try flipping the resistors, they're not quite as restrictive backwards."

"That could work, never occurred to me."

"We did it all the time, it wouldn't restrict the energy surges as much."

They were silent for a minute, Rotor taking his suggestion in.

"You're on to something here, looks much better." He responded after performing the modifications.

The kit simply smiled, before refocusing on his own work. Shortly after he had a question of his own. "Hey, how do you guys get around so quickly, I mean, excluding Sonic."

"We have a biplane, it's not very helpful on missions though."

"Could you show me sometime?"

"Probably, maybe later today, you've still got that job of yours."

Miles nodded and they both continued on, they would ask occasional questions to one another while they worked. But mostly, they just silently focused on their own tasks. The core Miles was working on continued to unravel before he fully opened it and retrieved the internals.

"Got it!"

"Nice, that's finally crossed off the list. You have no idea how annoying that thing is."

"Now, I've just got to figure out what's on this thing."

"You could try and use the main computer, hopefully, it should be able to read it."

"Sweet, I've got no idea how to work it, could you help me?"

"Sure, just give me one second."

Rotor finished the segment he was working on before they headed over to the computer, Rotor took the board from him.

"This is going to have to be manually wired up to allow for a data transfer, basically, I'm going to pull everything off of it and put in on an actual drive."

"Sweet, is there any way I could help?"

"You could pass me that bundle of wires down there." Rotor replied, pointing down under the desk.

They prepared the motherboard for a transfer, Sally walked in while they were working.

"Well it seems you two are up to something," She commented. "You got the core open?"

"Yep! This is the motherboard right here," Miles replied, gesturing to the mess of wires in front of him. "It's a bit damaged in some places but it seems mostly intact."

"That was to be expected, it's pretty hard to get one completely together."

"The cores are supposed to be rather durable though…"

"They break pretty easily because of the way it's fastened, they're not on a flat area, heavy impacts can break it," Rotor added.

"Geez, you have no idea how much I tried to work on making Swat Bots more durable, it never occurred that the core was the problem."

"Is that why they keep adding more useless armor?" Sally replied, "Cause all it's done is ensure that there's more to salvage!"

"Hey, sometimes we overlooked the finer details."

"Sometimes? I could have sworn you were helping us."

The sentence earned a chuckle out of him, "Apparently I decided to make it official huh!?"

They both laughed at their joke and as it died down, Rotor spoke. "Alright you two, I've got this thing hooked up let's see if it works!"

Powering it up, the computer seemed to recognize the new input and Rotor brought up the data log.

"Yes! It works, I was scared that it wouldn't be able to recognize it because of the damages, looks like it's somehow working."

"Awesome, there's got to be something in these logs we can use," Sally replied.

"It seems like there's plenty here, patrol commands, weapon discharge info, video footage, some of this goes back over two years!"

"That's awesome, there's got to be some serious info we could get out of this, figure out where the patrols move, get better info on defense posts. There's plenty here, Rotor, do you want to look over this for a bit?"

"Sure, I can do that."

"I'll help as well," Miles added.

"Actually, I've got other things for you." Sally responded, "If you're coming with us next time, we've got to go over some things."

"Alright, see you later Rotor." He spoke as Sally led him out, they left the small compound and found themselves out in the clearing, Antoine was already present, along with Sonic.

"Alright, if we're going to make the most out of this, we're going to need to see how well you can fight, I know you prefer your blasters but they won't always be an option. This is to see how you do in hand to hand and basic weapon combat."

"Seems reasonable, what's first?"

"Sonic is going to test your skills in hand to hand, I've told him to keep his speed somewhat under control so you're not completely outmatched."

"I'll go easy on you," Sonic added. "We already have an idea, but most of it seems to be against me for some reason, just testing how you are against something without super speed."

"Got it, let's get started."

Sally and Antoine watched as the two began to spar, Miles seemed to assume his standard defensive style, reliant on his tails to keep Sonic at a distance, as they did so, Rotor appeared from the entrance.

"Sal, you're going to want to look at this." He began, walking over with Nicole's portable housing. She looked at what he had on the screen, it was a list of energy discharges for the weapons he had pulled from the core.

"What about it?" She asked.

"Look at the energy, the times of discharge, this isn't what we normally see."

Checking again, she finally noticed what Rotor meant, they discharged at regular three-second intervals for what looked to be for about an hour. The energy levels were much lower than usual as well.

"Why's it different?"

"That's what I've been trying to figure out, the blast energy is even lower than would be needed for a stun."

"You're saying it's not to stun?"

"Seems that way, the timer on shots as well implies that it could have been utilized as a form of torture, while it wouldn't stun, it would certainly hurt."

"Doesn't that solve our question?"

"It would, but there's something else," Rotor replied, he brought up the patrol info. "This thing was never assigned to the prison block, it was placed as a throne room guard, it's not even a recent entry, it's one of the first."

This naturally puzzled her, "Well, maybe they removed one of the prisoners and brought him there."

"Why would he waste his time on that? I don't imagine there was anybody of major importance there, and if he wanted to instill fear, it would be done in the prison block for everyone to see."

"You do have a point there, could you bring up the footage stored on it? Maybe there's something there we could use?"

"They're pretty corrupt, it's taking some time to even get them to display properly, I'll keep at it, but I'm not sure if it'll even be recorded on it. Maybe it's been lost, I'll keep you updated."

"Do that, if you find anything I'd like to know."

Rotor nodded and returned back into the compound. She returned her attention to the activity at hand, Miles seemed to be holding his own. After a while, she broke up the fight. "Alright, that should be enough, don't want you two hurting each other too badly."

They promptly stopped and Antoine handed Miles a short sword, about the same length as his own. "Antoine will be in charge of testing your skill with basic weapons."

"I'll try not to stab him," Miles replied.

"I wouldn't be too scared of that, I doubt you'll even get close to him."

The kit looked somewhat confused by the comment but prepared himself anyways as Antoine drew his sword. Instantly he was on the defensive as the coyote assaulted him, blocking somewhat sloppily, he tried to retaliate but found himself unable to find an opening in the assault. Miles blocked again, only resulting in him having his sword pulled from his hand and thrust to the ground. Antoine seemed satisfied with his performance

"Well, I guess we know that swordplay isn't my strong suite," he responded, admitting to his loss.

"You could say that again," Sally replied, chuckling.

"I think even I lasted a bit longer than that," Sonic added.

Tails nervously smiled, Sally continued. "So, no swords, at least not for a while. Not too bad at hand to hand combat, and you've got your pistols. That's not bad for the first time."

"Thanks, I'm excited to get started!"

"I'd like to see what you bring to the table. We're going to start laying out a plan, I'd like for you to be with us for it."

The kit nodded as they started back toward the compound, Sally began to gather everyone for the events ahead.

 **Alright guys, hopefully things should pick up a bit more from here! Let me know what you thought in a review and follow to receive notifications when I update! Until next time!**


	15. Infiltration

**Hello guys, I'm here with another chapter! Let's get going!**

 **(FFN Reviews)**

 **Purloined Letter: Well, I've got what happens right now! As for Rotor's discovery, you'll have to see!**

 **SharpDragonKlaw: I've got something planned, so you'll have to stay tuned!**

 **That's everyone, let's get going!**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **Infiltration**_

Miles had a major feeling of pride wash over him as he sat down at the meeting, he had never expected his life to take the turn that it had, and he knew that his information and abilities were finally getting used.

"Alright everyone here's the plan." Sally began to the assembled Freedom Fighters. "There's a warehouse located on the northern side of the city, rather than going around, we're going to enter on the eastern side and work toward it."

"Why don't we just enter from the north?" Antoine asked.

"I was just getting to that, in addition to the warehouse, there's a new construction project located in the northeastern area, hopefully, we can take that out before it finishes while we're at it."

There were some quiet murmurs from the gathered group before they quieted down, allowing Sally to continue.

"Rotor will carry the charges as usual. As for everyone else, stick to the plan, take out anything you can."

The assembled nodded in agreement, before splitting off into the compound to gather their respective gear and supplies, Miles was given a headset by Rotor, and he eagerly put it on. It fit snuggly around the top of his head, the backward facing speakers attached to the top directly contacting his ears.

Everybody wore a similar headset, allowing quick, effective communication between the group, even when they weren't near one another or had to split up. The kitsune attached the belt from his old uniform around his waist, placing his twin blasters into the holsters. Some of the other Freedom Fighters possessed similar equipment, namely Antoine with a scabbard and his sword and Rotor, who had a singular blaster with him seemingly of his own design. The six exited the compound and started toward Robotropolis on foot, according to Sonic, the walk was about an hour and a half, so they would be moving for some time. The group was mostly silent throughout the journey, aside from some occasional small talk between the other members. The only real sound was that of the trees, whose leaves rustled in the chill morning air.

The cold breeze didn't really bother him, as it was unable to penetrate his fur. It was getting closer to autumn, which meant the weather was getting colder by the day. A few select leaves, matching the color if his fur, had already fallen to the ground, and he wondered what everything would look like when the season finally ended.

Sally signaled back to the group, who stopped at her gesture. A trio of Swat Bots was up ahead, they waited on them to pass by before continuing, after a few more minutes the trees started to thin and give way to a large concrete wall.

Bunnie hovered up to the top of the wall and began to pull the other members up to her, eventually, they all jumped down into the city.

"Alright Miles, what's the best way North?"

"Well, there's a route that goes further inward. While it has fewer cameras to avoid, there's always the chance we get seen by patrols still though."

"Awesome, can you point them out as we go?"

The kit nodded as the group continued forward, as they did, Miles got a greater respect for how good the rest of the Freedom Fighters were at stealth. They expertly avoided any cameras he pointed out, and any Swat Bot patrols were waited out. Miles wasn't the most skilled at avoiding them yet, so he mostly tried to mimic the others as best as possible, which lead to some close calls.

Eventually, they reached the construction yard, multiple Swat Bots were stationed around working as guards and construction workers. Rotor started to count them.

"There's seventeen, plus probably more around, there's no way we're getting in without setting off an alarm."

"Shoot," Sally replied. "Well, we're still going for it, meaning we'll have to be quick after. I, Sonic, and Bunnie will head left; Antoine, Rotor, and Miles, you guys start right, we'll work our way in."

Rotor nodded and motioned to Antoine and Miles to follow him, they worked their way through the incomplete wall frames and steel girders. They reached the far side and prepared their respective weaponry. As soon as they saw a bright blue streak enter the yard, the three pounced on the nearest group. The guards were caught completely by surprise, with Miles landing a kick to one of their torsos.

With their presence known, some of the guards turned to face the three new assailants, one was immediately met with a sword point to the head, along with multiple blaster shots as Miles and Antoine attacked the same target. Rotor was occupied with another robot, and across the yard, Sally and Bunnie were having equal success. Sonic dashed around the area, taking out robots everywhere he went.

"Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!" Miles whipped his head around on instinct. But a laser blast whizzing by his head forced him to refocus.

After a few minutes had passed, no more guards remained. Rotor produced a satchel and threw a blast charge to everyone.

"Remember, spread it out, make sure the whole thing comes down."

The others dispersed and began to arm the explosives to the supports, Miles did the same and armed it with some assistance from Rotor. As they did, small groups of nearby Swat Bots arrived on site, however, they were swiftly dealt with before they could jeopardize the mission.

The ensuing detonation as they moved toward the next target saw the entire structure crumble down behind them, and Miles couldn't help but smile, it felt amazing.

The second structure was much less secure, or so it seemed. They prepped the explosives with minimal resistance. Amidst the crates of supplies, they found quite a few useful components that Rotor figured he could use.

"Hey, Rotor." Sally asked, "How many more charges are left?"

He checked the satchel, "Four, why?"

"We could try to at least damage one of the production plants, I'm not sure if it's enough to take it out, but we could give it a shot."

"There should be one just West of here," Miles interjected. "We could try that."

Sally informed the rest of the group about the new plan and they set off toward the structure. The encountered more Swat Bots on their route but they were defeated with relative ease.

The production line appeared to be creating power cores for Swat Bots, and after collecting a couple, the four charges were planted. As they exited, Sonic was struck by a dark blue flash and propelled back into the warehouse. Metal Sonic had arrived.

"Miles Robotnik," he spoke. "You are guilty of high treason, the punishment is dea-"

He was interrupted by Sonic's assault, striking him back in the chest.

"Get out of here!" Sonic yelled the rest stood their ground.

"He doesn't stand a chance against all of us!" Rotor responded.

"We're with ya!" Bunnie added.

Sonic smiled at their comments as Metal recovered, charging back at the group with lightning speed. As he slowed to turn, Antoine jumped at him, sword drawn. Metal responded by projecting a black diamond shaped shield around himself, which the blow glanced off.

"Pitiful, I've received some improvements since last time." Metal remarked. "You cannot win."

He charged again, this time grazing Rotor on the way past, causing him to scream out in pain. The charge cost him though as he was struck repeatedly by energy blasts from Miles, Rotor, and Bunnie on the way past, dealing considerable damage. The small cavity on his chest began to glow dimly, "It is useless to resist!"

"Everyone take cover!" Miles yelled at the group, knowing what was coming, they dove behind a building just as the energy released, creating a devastating laser beam. The robot burst through the wall above them, showering the group with concrete fragments.

Even with the element of surprise, he still received damage due to recklessly charging through the building and the ensuing blaster shots at his appearance. One final attack to his chest was enough to force the robot to accept that he wouldn't win and retreat toward the center of the city.

The Freedom Fighters turned back to the outer edge and ran, detonating the charges as they did, the few patrol units had been reinforced in their area, and now began to prove a serious threat. As they continued and everyone scanned the surrounding area for patrols and defenses. Miles was suddenly pinned onto his back as a short figure rounded the corner and pounced on him, he instinctively swung at his assailant before stopping himself.

"Kay!" He exclaimed, pulling the robot into a hug, "You're alright!"

The robot let out a loud yip in response, before allowing the kit back onto his feet. He looked over at the other Freedom Fighters, noticing their confused expressions.

"He's mine," He explained. "Really the only friend I had back in Robotropolis."

The others exchanged glances at one another before Sally replied. "Miles, you know he can't come back with us, right? We can't risk it."

"There's nothing wrong with him, I built him myself!"

Sally grumbled something under her breath before conceding, knowing Miles wasn't going to just take 'no' for an answer. "Alright, he can come, but he'll need to be checked before."

Miles nodded and they continued, finally escaping over the back wall with the entire team. Rotor's arm had multiple slash marks running across it, which were bandaged. There was some basic celebration on the way back to the base, they had done some real damage. Miles was ecstatic the whole time, having had his first successful mission, and finding Kay. Once they reached Knothole again, Miles had Kay wait outside as they had a short debriefing, he grabbed some tools from Rotor's workshop and deactivated Kay via a specific command. Rotor joined him to double check Miles' work as he reluctantly disassembled the robot.

"So, this guy is yours?" Rotor asked.

"Yeah, he was one of my first actual creations and a great friend."

"I imagine it was lonely with your best friend being a robot?"

"In retrospect, yeah, it really was. This is much better." Miles continued, removing an internal panel from K.I.T.'s frame. He found something he didn't recognize, he removed a small black box from the robot's frame.

"Not today Dad," He thought aloud before stomping it to pieces. "The nerve! Putting a tracker into him, knowing I would take it!"

"That's dirty," Rotor responded. They finished the scan of the robot before placing him back together and reactivating him.

"There we go! Welcome back!" Miles exclaimed at the robot. It yipped happily in response. "We good Rotor?"

"Almost, I've got one more thing… Do you know anything about this?"

Rotor handed him a small device, on the screen was an image of Miles in the throne room, two Swat Bots restraining him, he appeared completely limp.

Miles handed him back the device, before going silent.

"Miles… You alright?" Rotor asked.

"Yeah… That just brought up some bad memories."

"Like what?"

"Death Egg Incident as I've gone to calling it."

"What happened?"

"You remember the Death Egg, right?"

"Yeah, you were on it trying to stop us the whole way!"

"Well, afterwards, Robotnik was furious, and that's underselling it. He needed something, anything to take his anger out on."

Miles removed his white shirt, "He chose me." He turned his back to Rotor and the walrus gasped. The kit's back was covered in scars, missing fur patches, and was discolored in some places. "He yelled at me for my incompetence, had me beaten, as well as shot countless times in the back, he set it specifically high enough to be as painful as possible, without instantly stunning. Eventually, I just passed out from the sheer pain, when I woke up, Robotnik came to apologize. He claimed he lost control, that his anger blinded him. I said I forgave him but, I just, couldn't get it out of my head, I still can't. Does that answer your question?"

Rotor was stunned, "I'm so sorry Miles, we'll never do something like that to you."

"I know, thanks for letting me get that off my chest," Miles responded, putting his shirt back on.

Rotor nodded and after a short silence, Miles grabbed Kay and they descended back into the base.

 **Alright, everyone, that's everything, let me know what you thought in a review! Until next time!**


	16. Best Left Forgotten

**Hey guys! I'm back let's get going!**

 **(FFN Reviews)**

 **Piggon: Life under a tyrannical leader/father wasn't the greatest in the world, even so, Miles tried his hardest to love Robotnik.**

 **TheGameNguyener: Personally, I feel Forces was a great idea with questionable execution, lots of the concepts I loved and am going to be adapting for some of my stories. Zero in the story Test of Time is an adaptation on Infinite. Expect to see more Forces references in the future! Thanks for the awesome comment!**

 **Remnants of Fantasy: He's going to want Kay with him as Rotor brought up a sore topic for him. Plus, it combines something from his old life with his new one!**

 **SharpDragonKlaw: He could probably use a hug at the moment to help him get over it for good. Kay's always treated him fairly and Miles is happy to have him back!**

 **That's everyone, let's start!**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **Best Left Forgotten**_

"YOU FREAK OF AN EXPERIMENT!"

Another plasma bolt burned into his flesh from behind, he would have screamed in agony had he been fully aware. However, he was currently being limply supported by two flanking Swat Bots. Everything on his aching body hurt, and he felt like he would lose consciousness any second. But, no matter how much he wanted it to, it never came.

"CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT FOR ONCE!? IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE FOR US TO LOSE AND SOMEHOW YOU STILL MADE IT HAPPEN!"

"I'm sorry!" The semiconscious kit yelled, tears streaming down his face and spattering on the floor below. "I'm so sorry..."

"SORRY DOESN'T SOLVE THE PROBLEM NOW DOES IT!? YOU'RE A WORTHLESS FREAK!"

A jolt of pain shot up him as yet another blast pounded into him. The Swat Bots thrust him to the floor, the impact taking the wind out of him. He wanted to run and hide, be anywhere be here; but his broken body wouldn't cooperate. Even the slight movements on the ground shot waves of pain up his body, as the charred flesh on his back broke and cracked with every movement.

"YOU'RE A DISGRACE TO THIS EMPIRE! DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT!?" Robotnik yelled as he walked over, delivering a kick to the kit's exposed back and sending him across the floor.

Miles screamed as the pain he had endured for the past two hours suddenly spiked to the highest it had been. "I'm so sorry!" He pleaded again, only to receive another strike to his back, resulting in yet another scream. His vision started to collapse as the pain was overwhelming, he could faintly see a small pool of blood was gathering around himself, most likely from his back.

"I ASKED YOU A QUESTION! DO YOU UNDERSTAND, OR DO I NEED TO EXPLAIN IT SO YOUR STUPID BRAIN CAN COMPREHEND!?"

The kit could feel a mixture of blood and tears all across his side and face as his fur absorbed what of it was beginning to pool around him. Unable to take it any longer, his brain defensively shut itself off and everything went dark.

 **-X-**

"Ughhh," He moaned as he woke up. Everything felt sore, especially his chest area.

His eyes fluttered open and slowly, his surroundings came into focus. It looked like he was in the infirmary, bandages and needles dotted his fur, and he was tucked into one of the white beds that were present.

Slowly sitting up he grabbed a small tablet at the bottom of his bed, it kept records of medical procedures for future use. He brought up the most recent one, assuming it to be his.

[00:00:00] Patient received, performing primary scan…

[00:00:38] Primary scan complete:

Breathing: Normal

Stimuli Response: None

Heart Rate: Low

Blood Pressure: Moderate

Beginning secondary scan…

[00:01:06] Secondary scan complete:

Several injuries detected, including:

Major Burns

Small Fractures

Lacerations

Moderate Blood Loss

Beginning treatment…

[00:27:31] Pulse not detected, attempting to revive...

Engaging Defibrillator…

Clear…

Clear…

Clear…

Clear…

[00:28:44] Pulse restored, continuing treatment…

[01:06:39] Treatment complete…

[04:13:57] Movement detected…

Miles had a look of confusion on his face, he had been unconscious for over four hours, but he couldn't remember from what.

He went to lay back down, only to be met with a sharp crack and a tidal wave of pain. The skin on his back had finally given in and fully split, releasing blood onto his bed and turning the bandages around his wounds a deep red. He tried to resist crying but found the pain so extreme he was unable to, a set of mechanical hands began to refresh the bandages.

His memories from four hours ago were restored from the injury as he threw his head back and screamed, trying anything to minimize the pain. He suddenly felt extremely lightheaded and slumped back down into the bed before passing out again.

 **-X-**

Miles' eyes shot open, and slowly, they adjusted to the darkness. He uncurled himself from his position on the floor and stretched, flexing out his tails as he did so. K.I.T., who was resting against Miles' tails while he slept, rose with him and followed the sleepy kit as he made for the door.

Rotor's conversation from yesterday had brought back some memories he would have best liked forgotten, and now he couldn't sleep because of it, this was the fourth time tonight it had happened. He figured he would get an early start to the day, considering he wasn't going to get some sleep anytime soon.

He silently stepped out of Sonic's room and headed toward the main living area. After a moment, he stopped and walked to a nearby mirror. He removed his pajama top and turned around, looking back over his shoulder. The scars had faded a bit, but he was still slightly shocked at just how terrible it looked. He was checking its appearance because of Sonic's suggestion that he stop wearing a shirt and shorts, remove some hassle from his life, he didn't necessarily need them, but he still politely turned him down. The other Freedom Fighters didn't need to see his injuries every time they looked at him.

Putting his top back on, he started toward the main living area. "All right Kay," Miles commented, acknowledging the robot's presence. "What should we do?"

"You could try explaining what it was I just saw…" A disembodied voice replied, making the kitsune jump in surprise.

"Nicole! You scared me!"

"Sorry, I was just curious."

"About what?"

"Your injuries, are those from yesterday?"

Miles sighed, there wasn't much point in trying to hide it, he explained his story to Nicole, the same way he had to Rotor earlier.

"I'm sorry to hear that Miles," Nicole commented after he had finished.

"Don't tell anybody else though, everybody doesn't need to know."

"You have my word."

He smiled at the statement, Nicole, however, had more questions for him.

"Miles, how did you still love Robotnik after what he did to you?"

"He created me after all, I owed him everything."

"Did he love you back?"

"He…" Miles' voice trailed off, he couldn't remember any time recently Robotnik had mentioned he loved him. Even worse, he couldn't think of any time he had heard those words escape his father's mouth. "He…" Miles tried to continue, as more rogue thoughts entered his mind. Did his father love him? Had he ever?

"Miles?" Nicole asked, concerned at the lack of response from the normally punctual kit.

Miles' façade that he had held up all his life began to crumble at that simple five-word question. Small tear drops appeared in the corners of his eyes. "Of-Of course he loves me!" He finally answered, his voice quivering as he spoke.

"Tails…" She began, using the name Sonic always used, thinking it would help. "I don't think you're being honest with me. Are you all right?"

"Never better…" He denied, more tears streamed down his face. "I'm going to go for a walk."

Kay, who was following behind Miles, let out a soft whimper at the sight of his emotionally distressed master. Trying to snuggle against his ankles to comfort him.

He entered the meeting room, so distracted by his thoughts that he completely forgot his boots on the way up the ladder, as he tried to open the door, he found that it had been sealed, preventing access, and he was unable to undo it.

"Nicole open the door." He demanded.

"This is for your own good Miles."

"I said, open the door!" The kit growled, focusing on the anger to stop the constant tears.

"No."

"What do you mean 'No'!?"

"You're clearly upset about it, I'm not allowing you to leave in your current mindset."

"I'm just fine!" Miles yelled, descending the ladder and grabbing one of the nearby chairs.

"I'm not stupid Tails."

"Well, then you're clearly blind!" The kitsune's voice rose as he spoke, he hurled the chair he had grabbed across the room, the impact shattering it into fragments of wood. He released all his pent-up frustration and anger on the items scattered throughout the room, shouting nonsense the entire time.

Within a few minutes, he had nothing left to destroy. "Did that make you happy!?" He yelled out. "Did anything I ever do make you happy!?"

With his anger released and the adrenaline rush fading, he found the familiar tears welling back up into his eyes as he collapsed amid the wreckage. "Nicole..." He softly spoke.

"Yes, Miles? Are you feeling better now?"

"Not really... I'm not all right..."

Nicole had no response as the kitsune continued his rant.

"Did he ever see me as more than another tool for him to use!?" He cried out from the depths of his soul. "Was I ever 'son' to him!? Was I just something else for him to exploit!?"

Kay crawled out from amidst the destroyed room and pressed against the kitsune, who pulled him into a hug.

"Miles," Nicole replied. "I think I know how to help you."

"Yeah right..." He replied, wrapping his tails around himself and Kay to conceal his tears and sorrow.

"I think you may be dealing with lifelong emotional neglect, you've never had somebody to share your emotions with, so you don't know how to control them."

"H- How do you plan to help with that?" The kit sniffled.

"Just, talk to me."

"I am..."

"Just tell me everything going through your head, let it all out."

 **-X-**

Sonic awoke to the sound of a loud crash outside his bedroom, opening his eyes, he noticed that his door was partially open, and Miles was nowhere to be found. He walked out into the hallway and was met with another loud crash. It sounded like it was coming from within the compound, he looked around before discovering its source from within the meeting hall, he placed his ear against the door, he could hear yelling from the other side.

"Nobody ever listens!" He recognized the voice as Miles' before another loud crash was heard. He tried to open the door and found himself unable to do so, even after pulling with all his strength.

"Nicole, what's going on in there!?" He asked, Rotor and Sally had heard the commotion and had joined him by now.

"Miles is, having an emotional release."

"Some release," Sally commented. "I can hear him all the way down the hall!"

"I'll see if I can't calm him down, I'd suggest staying out of it for now, unless you'd like to have something thrown at you."

"He's destroying the meeting room!?"

"I'm afraid yes," Nicole replied. "I think I can help him though, I recognize his mood swings and destructive activities as an inability to control his emotions, which is a symptom of emotional neglect."

"What do you mean by that?" Sonic questioned.

"Miles claims he loved Robotnik all his childhood when I talked to him this morning, when I asked if Robotnik loved him back, he just stopped answering questions. I may have struck a nerve with him. I assume Robotnik never took his emotional needs into account, or if he did, never acknowledged them."

Bunnie and Antoine had both been awoken by the discussion outside of their rooms and had now joined the group. Rotor's face had a look of guilt plastered across it. "This is my fault, I shouldn't have asked him about that photo."

The others, besides Nicole, questioned him about it and he was forced to spill everything about their conversation after the mission.

"So, he's finally realized Robotnik never cared about him," Sonic commented after the story. "I feel bad for the kid, I mean, Robotnik was his entire life."

"I suggest allowing me to calm him down," Nicole responded. "I have some knowledge on how to deal with these kinds of situations."

"I hope you're right," Sally replied. "We'll give you some space."

 **-X-**

"I just don't fit in anywhere!" He yelled from amidst his ball he had formed into, "Not even in Robotropolis..."

Miles had been releasing his inner thoughts to Nicole for the past hour and trying to make sense of all his emotions. Now, thinking he had gone through everything, he went silent.

"Miles, now that you've gotten all of that out, would you like some company?"

"Yeah..."

There was no response for a bit before one of the doors opened and Sonic entered. He was stunned at the destruction before he before he spotted the pile of fur in the center. He walked over and knelt by him.

"Hey Tails, you doing all right?"

"I'm not sure, what's it to you?"

Sonic pulled the ball of fur by him into a gentle hug. "If it makes you feel any better, just know we love having you here Tails."

The kit could feel the tears returning to him, only this time, they were ones of happiness rather than sorrow and outrage.

"Thank you..." He replied, continuing to stay in the small ball he had formed. "You don't know how much that means right now..."

"I think I do, Nicole and Rotor told us everything."

"Really?"

"Yeah, why didn't you tell anybody you were abused?"

"I didn't want you guys to worry too much about me."

"Well look how that turned out, you've got us all worried sick."

"I'm sorry..."

"You don't need to apologize, just, know you can trust us. No matter what."

Tails finally returned his hug. They may have been enemies in a past life, but right now, nothing could tear them apart.

 **All right, everyone, that's all for now. See you next time.**


	17. Uncovered

**Hello everyone! Let's get going!**

 **(FFN Reviews)**

 **Guest: Sorry to hear that, it was an emotional moment for Miles.**

 **SupernaturalSonicFan: Glad to see you like it! It's been just as fun writing!**

 **TheGameNguyener: They're all certainly going to have their own opinions on the new revelation about Miles. Hopefully they'll treat him better than Robotnik did.**

 **SharpDraagonKlaw: Robotnik doesn't tolerate failure, he see himself as superior to everybody around him, even his own son. Nicole and Sonic certainly helped him control himself a bit better.**

 **Alright, now that that's through, let's go!**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **Uncovered**_

Tails, through the help of Sonic and Nicole, eventually got a hold of himself and his emotions. They refused to leave him alone after the event in fear he would lose himself again. Sonic stuck by the kitsune's side after the event, he did ask to see the damage to his back and he reluctantly showed him.

"Ow…" Sonic commented, "Does it still hurt?"

"Not really, I can't feel a lot back there though."

"Burned away all the feeling in it?"

"Yeah, permanent nerve damage."

"Doesn't sound fun…" Sonic responded.

"Not really."

They didn't speak for a while, Tails still in his ball in the meeting room. He continued to hold K.I.T. close to him for comfort. The small robot, being programmed to replicate Tails' feelings, was also somewhat sad.

"You feeling any better bud?" Sonic asked. "I'm not used to seeing you this sad."

"I don't know, I feel fine but, I've got this empty feeling in my chest. I just, need some time alone."

"Are you sure that you don't want any company?"

"Yeah…"

Sonic paused a moment, "Alright, if you need anything, just yell for one of us."

Tails nodded and pulled back into his ball. Kay laying against the kitsune's back. "I don't know bud," He began. "Was it all just a lie? Just like the Robians."

The robot whimpered and pushed closer to the kitsune.

"I know bud, we'll figure it out."

Tails allowed his mind some space to wander and fill time. He started to think about everything, his life in Robotropolis, his current one with the Freedom Fighters, he thought through K.I.T.'s schematics. How it always managed to replicate his own emotions.

" _I wonder how that works,"_ He thought to himself. _"There's got to be some way it reads my face or body language or something."_

He heard footsteps outside and the door opening. _"Strange, I thought everyone was-"_

His thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of a Swat Bot dropping down the shaft. His adrenaline kicked in and he delivered a kick to the robot's chest, sending it backward. He then started freaking out.

" _How did it even-"_

Another descended and entered the base. Receiving the same treatment as the last. He ran back into the main room, the others stunned at his startled appearance.

"What's wrong?" Bunnie asked.

"Swat Bots!"

"Here!?" Sally exclaimed.

As if on cue, one of the attacking robots broke through the door, entering the main room, several others followed behind.

"Everyone to the back!" Sally yelled, "We're going out the long way!"

Sonic disobeyed the command and charged the offenders, taking several of them out. Nicole, meanwhile, sealed the entry way to the compound. It would hold them for long though.

"Sonic, try and hold them off as long as you can." Sally commented.

"I'll help too." Miles responded, wanting to try and prove himself.

"Alright, if it gets overwhelming, just drop back," She grabbed a nearby communicator and threw it to Sonic. Before vanishing out of sight down the back hallway.

The robots had finally managed to breach the door and continued their onslaught, Sonic and Miles trying their hardest to hold them off and allow time for the others to escape.

They succeeded in pushing the attackers back but found it difficult to continue up the shaft due to the constant flow of attackers, both began to get tired, and began to debate on falling back to the exit.

"There's just no way!" Miles yelled, dodging an incoming blast while returning fire.

"Just a bit longer and we'll go! The more time we get the better."

After a few more minutes, they both turned and dropped back toward the rear of the compound before running back toward the exit. Miles managed to get about halfway before he felt a laser blast nail him on the back of the head. He collapsed to the ground, his body felt unresponsive and heavy. He recognized the feeling as a stun blast, he tried to yell out to Sonic for help but was unable to as his eyes closed and he passed out.

 **-X-**

Sonic returned to the tunnel the others had escaped through, looking back, Tails was nowhere to be found. He stopped and waited for a moment but eventually was forced to seal the doorway, preventing anything from following. He returned to where the other Freedom Fighters had gathered.

"Where's Miles?" Rotor asked.

"He got captured, I don't know how, I was too busy trying not to get blasted." Sonic replied, kneeling to K.I.T. whom looked very confused at its master's absence.

"Well," Sally began. "We'll head to the backup headquarters, then we'll figure out what we're going to do."

Everyone nodded in agreement and they started North. Unsure what exactly they were going to do.

 **-X-**

Miles slowly came back to his senses, he was in a cage of some sort in the prison block. He stepped up to the bars, the hallway was barren, aside from a lone Swat Bot patrolling.

He sighed to himself and started to think, how had Robotnik found them? It couldn't be Kay because he removed the tracker from him. Maybe he had gotten careless and a patrol had seen them after their last mission.

He waited and allowed his mind to wander for about an hour, before his thoughts were interrupted by a voice.

"Miles, so good to see you here!"

Just hearing the voice of his father filled him with rage, he stood up and faced toward the bars of his cage.

"What do you want?" He angrily spoke.

"It's not what I want Miles, it's what I can do for you. I can help you see past the lies of the Resistance."

"They're not lies, you're the liar around here!"

"Bold accusation coming from a traitor, speaking of which, I'd like to thank you for all your help! Without you, I never would have found their base!"

Miles wasn't really surprised by this statement, he knew it was probably his fault that they had been found.

"Seems that little tracker I put in you paid off after all!"

"You what!?"

"You don't know?" Robotnik laughed, "This is too good! You are my little sleeper agent, a living breathing tracking beacon! I planted a little bug inside you when you were just forming, just so I could keep tabs on you. Little did I know it would lead me straight to them!"

Miles' anger finally boiled over, he threw himself against the bars of the cage, snarling at his father.

"Careful now," Robotnik commented. "Let's not do something we're going to regret."

"I won't regret digging my claws into your chest!"

"Bold statement, I can help you Miles, you've been blinded by their flattery. Just-"

"It's not flattery, they love me more than you ever will! You never loved me, no matter how much I tried to impress you it was never enough! Nothing I did was ever enough! Do you really want me to drag myself back into that again!?"

Robotnik was taken aback by the anger in the kit's statement. "Fine! You want the truth!? You were never more than a freak! You could have been so much more, my greatest achievement, instead you decided to be useless!"

Miles shrunk down at Robotnik's comments, it was one thing to accuse yourself of something, but it was another beast entirely to have it confirmed by somebody you had once held dear.

"I could never trust you with anything! You would always screw it up in some way I couldn't even begin to fathom!"

The kit shrunk to a sitting position, ears flattened against his head. He had wrapped both of his tails around himself.

"So, you're right, I never loved you! I should have replaced you years ago!"

The sentence hung in the air for a bit before Miles responded. "I should have known, everything you ever told me was a lie, about the Freedom Fighters, Robians, heck, even your feelings toward me."

"Your allegiance is to me, I created you. You'll never be one of them."

"No, I'll never go back to working with you. I might have been artificially created, but that doesn't make me any less of a Mobian. I'll fight you until I die."

"Then why don't I just kill you right now?"

Miles, despite the fear that suddenly appeared inside of him with this question, held his ground. He was prepared to die if he had to.

"Tell me," Robotnik continued. "Where are the others?"

Miles had no idea as to where the other Freedom Fighters were, but because of this question he now knew they were alright. "I'm won't tell you, kill me if you want."

"You're more useful to me alive, they'll return, and when they do..." Robotnik laughed, "You'll make a fine demonstration."

With this sentence, Robotnik left the room, leaving Miles to himself. He could quietly hear the whispers of some other Mobians in the nearby cells, he could make out they were talking about him. Probably what he was doing here being Robotnik's son after all.

" _No..."_ He thought. _"I'm not a Robotnik anymore, I'm a Prower, I will never be that man's son again."_

He stood back up and started looking through his cell and anything he still had, he still had his clothing, though his pistols were notably absent. The cell he was in didn't have any major features of note. There was a small cot for him, but not much else. Things that could potentially be of use were even more scarce.

He sat down on his cot and started racking his brain for ideas, eventually, he resigned to laying himself down. He couldn't come up with anything that would work, even if he could escape, he would still have the tracker planted inside of him.

" _What can I do about that?"_ He asked himself. _"It'd have to get removed somehow."_

He didn't even know where to start with that, he'd have to get it surgically removed, or find a way to permanently disable it. Both proved daunting tasks. Getting it removed would require proper equipment and experience, both something he lacked. While disabling it would be possible, it wouldn't be easy or convenient, he'd have to carry a miniature EMP on him at all times, something that just wasn't possible.

Being completely stumped, he allowed himself to pace about his room, twiddling with one of his tails as he did so to jog his mind. He figured it'd be easier to remove the tracker, he wasn't going to be able to create a simple device to disable it, especially with his inability to go anywhere near the Freedom Fighter's base. He just hoped everybody else had a plan to rescue him sometime soon. He was starting to feel that creeping loneliness that had plagued his time in Robotropolis.

He wasn't sure what to think as he continued to think over what he was going to do when he got out of here. He figured Finitevus might be able to do something about it, but he wasn't certain. He eventually came to the thought that he might not be rescued, it was his fault that they had been found.

" _They'll come for me,"_ His mind reasoned. _"Right?"_

 **Alright guys, that's everything for today. Until next time!**


	18. Blood on the Floor

**(FFN Reviews)**

 **TheGameNguyener: Thanks for the call out, I don't know how that got through my proofreading. He's denied that Robotnik never loved him his whole life. It's just now that he's finally willing to start accepting it.**

 **Piggon: The truth behind life in Robotropolis for one of two living beings there is starting to come out, it wasn't pretty to say the least. His time with the Freedom Fighters has given him some time to heal.**

 **DaddlerTheDalek: It's certainly not a good thing to do.**

 **SharpDragonKlaw: Hopefully they'll be able to help him out of his current situation. The tracker is another issue however.**

 **Sonadow345: Thanks for giving this a look! I plan on taking this to the end!**

 **(AO3 Comments)**

 **FieraTheProud: Robotnik is rather mean to those under his command, including Miles. Hopefully he'll get out unscathed.**

 **Let's get going!**

 **Subject #4261**

 **Blood on the Floor**

It had been over a day since Miles was captured, he hadn't eaten or talked to another living soul in his time, spending it investigating his cell for anything he could exploit. He continued scanning over his clothing to see if any if it could be useful, nothing jumped to mind. He was starting to get bored and lonely, he was going to need to get out of here.

He heard the entrance to the building open once again, one of the robots was probably bringing in food for the captured prisoners. Miles received his and pushed it aside. He didn't want to eat it after learning of the tracking device inside him, it could be poisoned or designed to sedate him for all he knew.

He was starting to have his doubts on a rescue attempt, while they weren't really justified, he had been the one that caused their base to be found, if they knew that by now.

 _"Why is he keeping me here? I should have been robotized long before now."_

He stood back up and looked down the hall either way, he only could see the dimly lit hall of the building.

"How much longer you in time-out Robotnik!?" A voice jeered from down the hallway, generating some laughs from other cells, Tails flattened his ears to his head. They had been at it ever since he had arrived, he couldn't blame them, and it didn't bother him much. What did bother him was thinking that many of the Mobians here with him he probably would have been assigned to capture.

He removed himself from the front of his cell and sat down on his cot. Sighing to himself, he decided he would just have to wait until the others showed up.

 **-X-**

"Everyone got what they need?" Sally asked the assembled team.

"I've got everything here." Rotor replied. Most of the others nodded.

"Do we really need to rescue him?" Antoine asked, "I mean he probably lead them right to us."

"I doubt he knew Ant, it was only a matter of time until we were discovered anyways." Sonic responded.

"How do we know he isn't still working for Robotnik, maybe he's a spy, wouldn't be the first time I caught him." Rotor commented.

"Then why was he taken?" Bunnie questioned.

"Maybe to have a quick chat with his father! Sonic even said he doesn't know how it happened, for all we know he willingly went with them!"

"Everyone quiet down," Sally commanded. "If it makes you feel any better, Miles isn't the only one we're freeing."

"That's assuming he's not waiting there to ambush us." Antoine replied.

"We'll be careful."

"I don't think you two are giving him enough credit." Sonic commented. "Rotor, you saw how Robotnik treated Tails, do you really think he'd want to go back to that?"

The walrus didn't have a proper response to it, that was something he couldn't explain.

"I'll go alone if I have to, Tails isn't with Robotnik anymore, he shouldn't be treated like he doesn't feel or is a monster! I know he isn't one, I saw him break down the other day because he realized how little he meant to his father. He's just had a rough childhood. If having a rough childhood is enough to call somebody a monster, then I guess we're all on the same level he is!"

Sonic's outburst managed to silence the murmurs in the room and for once, all the Freedom Fighters were on the same page. Sonic continued.

"Look, he regrets everything he did in service to his father, who never gave him anything in return. The least we can do is be his friends. I can't force you guys to overlook what he's done. But I've learned that under that uniform that we fought for years was a broken, tortured soul. Somebody who just wanted to help others in anyway he could."

The words hung for a while, nobody daring to challenge Sonic's statement. They wordlessly finished packing and exited their new compound. Rotor pulled Sonic over on their walk.

"That was really harsh of me back there wasn't it." Rotor quietly spoke.

"A little bit."

"I just can't overlook what he did, I know he's trying to fix it but, I think the damage might already be done."

"That's up to you, as for me, I feel everyone deserves a second chance, even Tails."

They continued the rest of the journey in silence. Sonic just hoped that Tails was still alright.

 **-X-**

Eventually, the group arrived at the outer border of the city, they vaulted overtop the wall, taking care to stay out of sight and moved toward the prison block. Rotor started his work on the door. Tails meanwhile, was alarmed by his cell sliding open, Metal Sonic stepped into his room and grabbed the kitsune by the arm, Tails tried to fight against his captor but found the steel limbs difficult to resist. Trying to fully contain the fox, Metal placed a hand around his throat slightly choking the kit in the process, he dragged him out of his cell, and dashed toward a nearby door. The door Rotor was working on flew open and something blew past him. Halting in midair in front of him. The figure was Metal Sonic, holding Tails in the air by his neck.

"Welcome my adversaries!" Robotnik's voice boomed through nearby speakers. "You seem to have found a creation of mine!" The kitsune struggled against his restraints, not being able to draw in any more air. "Though I do believe that he thinks himself a hero!"

Metal extended his claws and plunged them into Tails' chest, the kit would have screamed if he could find the air to do so. His eyes went wide in shock.

"Though I do think that he'll find that route much more painful!"

The spell over the Freedom Fighters was broken as Bunnie fired a blast upward, striking Metal Sonic across the chest. The sudden impact throwing Tails from the robot's grip and causing his embedded claw to slash across the fox's chest. Bunnie caught him as he fell, his breathing was shallow and red patches covered his chest.

"Tails!" She yelled. "Stay with me alright!"

Everything was a blur to the fox, he saw a figure over him and checking his wounds, along with some yelling to the other members. He felt being picked up and ran somewhere before everything faded out.

 **-X-**

Eventually, his brain reactivated, and while he couldn't find the strength to open his eyes or move, he could still feel and hear.

"Antoine, Bunnie, how's it going?"

"Not great, there's lots of damage. The gashes are pretty deep." A voice with a vague French accent replied.

"He's a fighter, I'll give him that." Another voice added. "I don't think he'll be giving up on us anytime soon."

"That's good to hear, kee-"

The voices slowly faded out again as the void absorbed his thoughts again. He woke up again some time later. He tried his eyes and hands again, only managing to move his fingers slightly.

"Tails? You awake hun?" A southern accent spoke. Sonic's nickname had started to catch on with the rest of the Freedom Fighters. He tried to respond but couldn't speak as his mind once again shut off.

In the void, he was free to think to himself. He was vaguely aware of some occasional voices but not much outside of that.

He tried his voice again, only managing to let out a soft moan, there was an immediate response. "You can do it hun!" Tails eyes opened slightly, he was blinded by light, allowing his eyes to adjust he found Bunnie standing over him.

"Bout time you woke up!" She added. "I was startin to get worried."

"Where am I?"

"You're back at Knothole."

Tails tried to sit up, feeling bandages wrapped around his chest.

"Just relax now," Bunnie told him. "You're in no shape to be up and about."

He reluctantly laid back down, he felt his bare paws rub against one another underneath the sheets.

"What happened?" Tails asked, not being able to remember the events that had passed.

"Metal Sonic stabbed you in the chest, we didn't think you'd make it for a while there. You sure showed death a thing or two!"

Tails let out a soft chuckle at this as he relaxed again, his eyelids felt really heavy, and sleep seemed like a increasingly tantalizing prospect. He allowed his eyes to close.

"Tails, stay with me alright."

"I'm just tired… It'll only be a second…"

"Don't fall asleep, you need to stay a-"

Tails' mind turned off and darkness consumed him once again.

It was several hours before he woke, this time much more alert than previously. Antoine greeted him this time. "He awakens!" The coyote exclaimed.

Tails sat upright, still hugging his blankets close to him. "How long have I been out?" Tails asked.

"I'd say about two days."

"Two days!?"

Tails' outburst attracted the attention of Sonic, whom was out in the hall, he entered and drew Tails into a deep hug.

"Sonic! Be gentile with him, he's still recovering!" Antoine yelled, causing Sonic to loosen his grip slightly.

"How you feeling bud? We almost lost you there!" Sonic exclaimed, happy to see Tails awake again.

"A bit lightheaded still, but otherwise pretty good."

"Sweet!" Sonic impulsively grabbed the kit by the arm and pulled him to his feet. Due to not having used them in two days, Tails was shaky and unsteady on his feet, falling into Sonic almost immediately.

Antoine scolded the hedgehog for his behavior and escorted Tails back into his bed, the fox requested to have his shirt back to conceal his scars but was turned down by Ant for when they needed to exchange his bandages and it let them keep a better eye on his injuries.

The fox suddenly bolted upright. "I shouldn't be here! He'll find out and-"

His attempts to stand up were halted by Antoine, whom tried to restrain the fox.

"Calm down Tails, you're alright!" Sonic exclaimed.

"No, I need to-"

"We dealt with the tracker!" The fox took on a confused expression before starting to calm down, panting to catch his breath.

"How- How did you-"

"We got some help, the gashes got rather near it, it was partially visible when Bunnie and Ant checked over your injuries. Rotor attached a device that's disrupting it's signals, it's still going to need to come out at some point, but they were a bit focused on saving your life."

The kitsune had calmed down fully by now. "I'm sorry I lead them to us, it's my fault…"

"It's alright, you didn't know, I'm sure you would have told me when I brought you here if you did."

"Sonic…"

"Yeah Tails?"

"Did- Did I die?"

Sonic and Ant looked at one another, the coyote spoke first. "After you woke with Bunnie, your heart just gave out. We managed to pull you back, but just barely."

"How long was I-"

"About two minutes."

The kit didn't respond for a bit. "Thank you, for, saving my life."

"You can say that again." Sonic responded. "Without Ant and Buns I don't think we would have been able to do much of anything."

"Alright Sonic, he'll need some rest."

"Can do Ant, glad to see you're awake Tails."

He softly smiled back before surrendering to the comfort of his bed.

 **Alright guys, that's it, I promise that's all for Tails abuse for the time being! He's been through enough in these past few chapters that I think he deserves a break! Let me know what your thoughts are! Until next time!**


	19. Orange and Yellow

**Hello!**

 **(FFN Reviews)**

 **TheGameNguyener: I think it's about time he had a break, the Freedom Fighters have been getting to know him better, which is good for him!**

 **SharpDragonKlaw: Sonic and Tails have very similar personalities and goals, they're bound to help one another!**

 **Alright guys, that's everyone, lets get going!**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **Orange and Yellow**_

Tails sit upright and slowly rose to his feet, he stumbled over to a nearby mirror to look himself over, aside from the series of bandages wrapped around his chest, he didn't look terrible. As tempted as he was to remove them to view the full extent of his injuries, he figured that that might not be the best idea, especially if it was still bleeding. He searched around for an outfit to wear, but wasn't able to locate anything, especially due to his unfamiliar surroundings. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he stepped out of the infirmary. He was met with completely different rooms then he was used to, and while the layout was similar, he had some trouble figuring out where things were.

"What ya looking for?" Bunnie asked, noticing his confusion.

"Just, something to- Where are we?" He replied, several questions arising in his thoughts.

"What, you think we wouldn't have a plan for when Robotnik eventually found us?"

"I get that, just-"

"You're alright sugah it's another bunker North of the old one."

"I'm sorry about, I didn't-"

"You're good, it was only a matter of time until ol' Robotnik found us."

"You act like it's happened before."

"We're just well prepared for when it did, we managed to get some of the things from before and removed everything that Robotnik could have used."

"That's a relief."

"How you feeling? Any better?"

"Yeah, quite a bit better actually. Thanks for saving my life, if it wasn't for you and Antoine-"

"It was nothin' really, we've had worse."

"You got a plan for this?" Tails asked, pointing down to his chest. "I know Rotor somehow got a temporary solution…"

"There's not a whole lot we could do here, not anything near to the equipment we'd need to safely get it out."

"So, what's the plan then?"

"We've got somebody who deals with major things like this, but as it's not really an emergency, he said he'd have an opening soon."

"That's good to hear, the sooner I get this thing out of me the better."

"Kind of crazy of Robotnik to put something in ya, but again, I wouldn't have put it past him."

"Yeah, not my favorite thing to find out, where's everybody else?"

She thought over her answer for a second. "Well, Rote is in the back by his workshop, I think he might still be getting everything situated. Sally and Sonic are off somewhere, I think they might be looking for others to recruit, especially with the recent move. Ant is probably still worrying himself to death 'bout another attack. I told him to calm down about it, but he just won't budge!"

"Cool, I think I'll go take a look around, figure out our surroundings again."

"Don't go too far, don't want you getting lost on us."

"I won't!"

He located finally found something to wear after searching for a bit longer, and he left the compound, Kay had found him as he went to leave and tagged along.

The robot's emotions were all over the place, Tails assumed this was due to the device in his chest being neutralized, it probably was how Kay tracked his feelings, so without something to draw on, the robot didn't quite know what to do with itself. He quickly reentered the base and grabbed a few tools, he was going to see what he could do about Kay's systems. He walked a short distance from the base and sat down, ushering the robot over to him.

He deactivated him and started to work carefully removing the exterior on the robot, he had a colder gust of wind shoot over him as he worked, the leaves were a solid orange by now, and some were starting to fall from the trees above. He hadn't really gotten to enjoy the changing of seasons before, he found the quiet forest quite comforting.

Digging through the internals for the robot, he found a box which he suspected was the receiver. He removed the part and held it up to his chest, it detected something, confirming his suspicions. Rotor's device didn't completely shut down the signals, only preventing them from going for long ranges. He pulled the sensor away from the mass of bandages and set it inside the bag with the tools.

He reassembled the robot and powered it back on, the robot looked up at him with a somewhat confused look on it's face, Tails smiled at him and the robot tried to mimic him. After some testing, Tails found that removing the device had removed the robot's learned emotions, he seemed to still be learning the emotions Tails was showing around him. Mostly positive ones, he figured Kay's ability would eventually fully return, it would just take a while.

He gave the robot a few pets before fully laying down in the leaves around him. He threw some of them in the air and let it slowly fall overtop of him, he let out quiet laugher at their simple movements, he covered himself with whatever leaves he could find. Creating a pile of them to play in, throwing the leaves up into the air.

The kitsune flopped down onto his back, leaves stuck in his fur. He just decided to relax, Kay came over and sat against his side. Tails was strangely a bit sad, he had never known how interesting nature could be, if he hadn't joined the Freedom Fighters, he would probably still be slaving away in Robotropolis. He would probably have never known how relaxing and caring the world could be.

"Kay, have we really missed this for eight years!?"

The robot's head perked up.

"Yeah, I wonder what else we missed…" Tails laid back down amongst the leaves, he figured a short nap couldn't hurt, and it felt nice being in his burrow among the leaves. He slowly fell back asleep, trying to catch up for the amount he needed from his two-day unconsciousness.

 **-X-**

"Tails? Tails?" Bunnie was currently busy trying to locate the kitsune, it had been a few hours with no word from him, and she thought he might have gotten lost. She had specifically warned him not to wander far.

She kept calling out for him for a while before eventually spotting a pair of tails sticking out of a circle of leaves on the forest floor, she approached and found the kitsune fast asleep, he was snoring softly as he usually did, she couldn't help but smile at his appearance. Kay jumped at her, trying to defend the sleeping kit.

"Easy bud, I'm not here to hurt him." She responded to the robot, this seemingly calmed it a bit, allowing Bunnie to pick him up from the floor, he curled up in her arms. A thought crossed her mind that currently, this might have been the motherliness act anybody had ever done to the kit. She carried him back to the camp and set him on a small cot she set up in Sonic's room, laying him down on it and putting a blanket overtop him. She watched the gentle rise and fall of his chest for a second, Sonic's speech the other day came to mind. She wondered what exactly what he was going through fighting his father. It had to be tough to go against everything you lived with and the man that created you.

She looked down at her own robotizied limbs that had occurred when she had first met the Freedom Fighters. She originally intended to make Robotnik and Tails pay for what they had done not only to her, but to every other Mobian they had captured. However, as she had gotten to know the kit better, she found her hatred for him softening. She realized that above all else, he was just a kid.

He was only here because he wanted to help undo everything, and she had found that interesting. It made her question if he really had known what he was doing under Robotnik's rule.

The kitsune rolled over and she softly left him to himself. Sonic and Sally should be back soon, maybe they had somebody new with them, they generally liked to pass off the entrance of anybody with the rest of the Freedom Fighters. She decided she would check what Ant and Rotor were up to and set off toward the workshop.

 **-X-**

Tails yawned as he awoke, he felt refreshed after his short nap. He rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes. He felt a short wave of panic after realizing he wasn't out in the forest anymore, but he realized he was back in Knothole and quickly he calmed himself down. He threw the blanket off of him and stepped out of Sonic's room. The others were assembled back in the hideout and Tails stepped out to greet them.

"Hey Tails," Sonic began, being the first to notice his appearance. "How was your nap?"

"Not bad, what you been up to?"

"Me and Sal have been out searching for anybody else to help us out, she figured we could use all the help we could get, especially now that Robotnik is bound to be on high alert."

"Any luck?"

"Actually, a little, we got somebody we'd like to introduce later tonight, I'll let you know when it's time."

Tails nodded and settled down, it didn't seem they had anywhere they'd be going for a while, he just figured he'd let the news that he wasn't about to be the newest member of the team fully set in. He was rather excited, though he didn't know who exactly it was going to be, he figured it didn't matter. Any help was good help, and help was something they could always use.

Kay jumped up onto the chair with him. Sonic spoke from his position.

"You know, you seem to really like that little guy." He commented.

"Well, he was my only friend." The kit replied, pausing before continuing. "Sonic, are we, friends?"

"If you want to be, I'd be cool with it."

He smiled at the affirmation. "I take that as a yes then."

"Cool! It's been fun having you around, you know, besides the kidnapping part. What happened there anyways?"

"Robotnik, he, he told me the truth, he never cared about me."

"I'm sorry bud…"

"To be honest, I'm not sure what I expected. I guess we all kind of suspected before hand huh?"

"Yeah, after you told me about… I kind of figured it out from there."

"I just want to make sure he pays for what he did, I guess I should probably as well."

"We'll handle that after we catch your dad, alright?"

"Yeah…"

Sonic walked over and put a hand on Tails' shoulder. "Hey, we'll fix this, alright stop beating yourself up over the past. You can't change it, but you can fix it."

Tails pulled him into a hug and for a moment, he felt he finally belonged.

 **Alright guys, I wanted to write somewhat of a fluffy chapter after what Tails has been through, hope you all enjoyed it! Let me know your thoughts, until next time!**


	20. Black and Red

**Hello guys! I'm here with another chapter and a quick announcement. First a few reviews though!**

 **Remnants of Fantasy: I wanted to give him a bit of happy time after what he's been through. I figured he'd try to enjoy it as much as he could! As for the new member, it'll be revealed this chapter!**

 **DaddlerTheDalek: You'll have to read to see!**

 **Alright, quick announcement I have two story ideas in mind for my next major story and I want to see what you guys want to see first! There is a poll at the top of my profile, and I would highly appreciate it if you took the time to fill that out! Even if the one you vote for doesn't win, I'll still be writing both!**

 **Let's get started on chapter twenty!**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **Black and Red**_

Tails sat himself down at the meeting table with the rest of the Freedom Fighters. Sally had called them all in to great their new group member and to get the opinion of the others on her choice. Miles was egger to meet their newest recruit, so much so that he was unable to sit still in his chair, constantly tapping on the table with his gloves.

The rest of the group had been assembled and pulled together to be introduced, as Miles had when he had first joined about two and a half months ago now. Sally entered the room from the entrance tunnel, instantly prompting the rest of the others to quiet down in anticipation.

"Alright everyone," She began. "I know you're all curious as to who our newest potential member is, but before we begin, I'd like to remind you all that we're on the same side here. We're all here because Robotnik cannot be allowed to rise to power. If he gains control of the world, it will be the end of life as we know."

Everyone else nodded in agreement. Including Tails, whom found himself agreeing with every word that was said.

"With that said," Sally began, opening the door. "Let's get started."

A familiar figure entered the meeting room. Tails instantly stood up from his chair. "What are you doing here!?" They both asked one another, Tails pointing an accusing hand up at the vulpine.

Fiona had just inserted herself back into Tails' life, and he wasn't having it.

"I thought they only allowed real Mobians on the Freedom Fighters." Fiona commented. "Why do you go back to your day job so I can beat the crap out of you!"

Tails dove out of his chair and tackled Fiona to the ground, the two were just about to have at each other before they were both pulled apart by Sonic and Antoine, whom tried to restrain the two struggling foxes.

"Everyone break it up!" Sally yelled, causing the two to stop struggling, though they weren't allowed to be free yet.

"Sit down!" She yelled, the four didn't waste any time returning to their seats, Fiona and Tails settling with shooting glares at one another from across the table.

"We're not going to act like savages!" Sally chastised.

"Well it's not my fault she made my life a living nightmare for two weeks!"

"Says the one who literally murdered my parents!"

"SHUT UP!"

Instantly the room went quiet at Sally's outburst. She pointed at Tails. "I will not allow you to assault another Mobian out of pure spite! If you do, there will be major consequences, do you understand!?"

"Y- Yes…" Tails replied, his voice quivering slightly as he spoke.

"And you," Sally continued, turning to face Fiona. "I'm not going to have you waltz in here and insult one of my teammates! Regardless of what he did or is! Do I make myself very clear!?"

"Yes…" Fiona answered, letting her head hang for a second.

"Great, because I don't want to repeat myself."

Sally got ahold of herself after the outburst and continued as she had planned. "Fiona, do you have anything you'd like to tell the group about yourself?"

She hesitated for a moment before her answer. "Well, I'm a good fighter, and I'd like to think that I could be of some help. You said you needed somebody capable."

Tails could hear some of the others mutter in agreement, something he was not liking. He didn't want Fiona back in his life, even if it meant her not becoming a Freedom Fighter. But, as the discussion went on, he realized something, he, had killed her parents.

It was probably not the easiest thing for her to forgive him for, maybe this could be a chance to get that weight off his shoulders and start making a new friend. He listened into additional explanations as to why she was here. She had a few comments that he figured were directed at him, which he didn't necessarily like, but he figured it was only natural.

Eventually, when it came time to vote her in, he rose his hand in agreement, much to the surprise of some in the room. But, with a unanimous vote to swear her in, it was instantly decided. It hadn't been easy for him to agree to allow her in, but he figured that if he of all people had been given a second chance, he could give her one as well.

Tails left back into the main living area, being one of the first to leave the meeting room. He still wasn't happy with Fiona being back, but he figured he'd have to live with it for now. Sonic joined him after a while, he was just a curious as some of the others as to why he had attacked her, and then had a full turnaround and voted her in.

"Well," Tails began. "I just figured that since you guys decided to give me a chance, that I could at least try to work with her."

"That's fair, it took quite a bit to get you here, maybe you'll learn to like her."

"That's assuming she ever forgives me…"

"You'll figure something out, I mean, you are Robotnik's son, I suppose that probably came with some of his smarts!"

Tails let out a soft chuckle as Sonic ran his hand through the kit's bangs. "Rotor says that your room should be finished by tonight as well, I think it's about time you had somewhere to stay!"

"Nice!"

Unbeknownst to the two of them, Fiona was stunned at what she was seeing, from what she knew about Miles, she figured that Robotnik would have removed his ability to feel happiness whenever he could. He was certainly acting different than the mindless drone that had killed her parents. She still remembered the day with pure malice, and every time she saw him the events came back to her mind. But now, seeing Miles and Sonic having their own small brotherly moment, it made her question herself about Miles for the first time.

She stepped back into the hallway, she was just trying to get the layout of the place into her head, it was a slow process, rarely was anything labeled, and with lots of the doors looking like one another, it was hard to tell anything apart. Eventually she ran across Antoine, whom was happy to show her around. He provided somewhat of an explanation as to what everything was and what room was who's.

 **-X-**

Tails retired to his newly finished room, the walls were currently completely blank, and everything was rather clean, just how he liked it. He had a smaller cot laid out for himself to sleep on, dare he say that the room reminded him of home.

He set down his bag of possessions and gathered his clothes out of Sonic's room, placing them underneath his bed. He grabbed a set of pajamas and dressed himself for the night, taking care to not remove the bandages still wrapped around his chest. While he was placing his shirt back on, the door to his room opened and Fiona stepped in. Nothing was said between the two for a second before Fiona spoke.

"What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing!"

"This is my room, Sally just sent me here!"

"She said the same thing to me!"

The two of them didn't say anything before they realized what was happening.

"I assume she did this on purpose, didn't she?" Fiona commented.

The kitsune sighed, it did sound like something she would do.

Unknown to the two of them, Sonic had the exact same question as Sally had just sent Fiona to Tails' room.

"Look," She had explained. "Maybe this could force them to get along, or at least, start seeing each other as teammates."

"I don't know Sal, next thing you know, we'll all be in there trying to break up a fight or something."

"It'll work, when have I been wrong about these things?"

Sonic couldn't argue with that, she did have an impressive track record of getting others to agree.

"I hope you know what you're doing, night Sal."

"Night."

Meanwhile, the two foxes were still busy with each other. Tails had designated a center line to the room, Fiona was to keep her stuff on one side, he would keep his on the other. She agreed with the proposal and started setting up her things. Tails just laid down on his cot, facing away from Fiona, whom finished bringing in her things and had laid on her own bed, again, facing away from the kitsune. The two didn't speak for a bit, until Fiona broke the silence.

"Miles-"

"It's Tails, call me Tails."

"Wait, really?" Fiona replied, earning quiet snickers from her across the room.

"Really, I don't like Miles, too many reminders."

"Alright," Fiona replied. "Well, I just want to say sorry for what I said earlier. Don't go back to Robotnik."

"I don't plan to. I'm sorry for attacking you."

"It's understandable, I probably would have done the same if you hadn't beat me to it."

After a somewhat awkward pause, Tails continued. "Fiona, I just, I want to say I'm sorry for what I did to your parents. I didn't really grasp what exactly was happening to the people I captured for Robotnik. Honestly, I'm kind of disappointed in myself for not catching on sooner."

She took a moment to respond. "Tails, I just, I can't forgive you. You don't know what it was like, I had to live on my own for years, you at least always had somewhere to stay, somebody who cared for you."

"Robotnik never cared for me."

"What makes you say that?"

"He told me, and, he, a- abused me."

"Seriously? I always assumed you two would have been close."

"I thought we were, my whole life was a lie."

Fiona paused with the newfound discovery, before continuing with her story. "While I was on my own, there were some others who I thought were giving me a second chance. They were all creeps, every one of them. I had to teach myself how to fight, I learned to take care of myself."

"I'm sorry, if you want to hate me, I understand."

"I- I don't hate you Tails. I don't really consider us friends, but I don't hate you."

"It's ok, what I did, I'm not sure why I asked you to forgive me. I don't think I can even forgive myself."

Tails shrunk down into his cot. "You shouldn't have had to go through all of that, you should have had parents that cared for you, it was terrible of me to take that away from you. Just hate me, it's what I deserve."

"Miles, I don't hate you."

"Why shouldn't you?"

"Seeing you earlier today with Sonic, it made me realize something, you're not the robotic servant I've seen you as my whole life. It forced me to realize that you're another living thing, regardless of your parents. Sally told me that you were artificially created, but that means Robotnik would have had to get your DNA from somewhere. I guess that makes you just as much of a Mobian as me."

Tails thought through that statement, "My parents were Robotnik and the incubation tube I was born in. I'm only a living being because Robotnik didn't think a machine would be capable of what I could."

"That doesn't change my statement, just, think about it."

"Alright, night Fiona."

"Night Tails."

They both dropped off into sleep, leaving each other to their own thoughts.

Tails' dreams were rather pleasant, he imagined himself playing among fields of autumn leaves. Fiona, on the other hand, was having nightmares about her past. Her chat with Tails bringing up some terrible memories as she spiraled deeper into her own mind.

 **Alright everyone, that's everything for today! I still can't believe we've gotten this far! I'd like to thank each and everyone of you guys who read, favorite, follow, and review! You have no idea how happy it makes me to get an email saying that somebody likes one of my stories! So once again, thank you!** **Remember to check out the poll on my profile, every answer counts! Until next time!**


	21. Trial by Fire

**Hello everyone! Sorry about the long wait, I was on a vacation in New York and didn't get much time to write! With the break over however, I think its about time I got back in the swing of things!**

 **AStoryTellerBook: The color scheme gave it away didn't it. ;)**

 **SharpDragonKlaw: Considering the history the two have with one another, I don't think it's going to be smooth sailing, at least not for a while.**

 **Remnants of Fantasy: Having both foxes alive at the end of the day is an obvious plus! I've got plenty of ideas for interactions between the two of them!**

 **Alright! Before we start, I've published a new story! You can find it on my profile! Let's get going!**

 **Subject #4261**

 **Trial by Fire**

Fiona was completely surrounded by fire, she could feel the heat physically licking at her fur and clothing. She desperately tried to escape, practically tumbling down the stairs as she ran. She continued to hear the sounds of blaster fire outside, along with the terrified screams of the other Mobians. Her mother still was within the house with her, attempting to bar the doors to prevent anything from entering. Her father was busy trying to fight off the unending swarm outside.

"Fiona! I told you to hide!"

"The house is on fire! There's nowhere to hide!"

Another blast tore through the nearby wall, sending fragments and pieces of it scattering to the floor. A portion of the first floor roof gave way, raining flames down atop them.

While Fiona wouldn't comprehend at the time, she figured out that leaving the house would mean certain death, or worse, at the hands of Robotnik's minions.

The roof continued to collapse inward atop them, and eventually, the main walls of the structure were too weak to support themselves. The entire building crumbled atop Fiona and her mother. Forcing the two to crawl out of their cover.

The area outside was a battleground, the Mobian villagers were using everything that they had to defend themselves, currently, it didn't seem like there was much they could do. Debris of homes and robots laid strewn across the snow, surrounded by small patches of ash. The air was filled with smoke from the fires that had started.

Fiona's mother picked up a nearby plank and attacked one of the Swat Bots surrounding the house. Denting it's armored plating and sending it staggering backward. She yelled at Fiona to run as more approached, which she quickly obeyed. She would never see her mother again.

The voice echoed overhead and all around her, "This will all just be easier if you stop!" A singular Swat Bot noticed her and opened fire. She ran around a nearby corner and face first into a nearby figure. They both fell to the snow below from the sudden impact. As her vision adjusted, she found a cloaked orange fox by her, he was about her height, and seemed a kid like herself. However, what surprised her the most was the twin robots flaking him on either side. The fox smiled at her.

"Well, I'm happy to see some of you understand." She recognized his voice, it was the one that she had heard after fleeing her home. She turned and tried to run, only to quickly encounter two other Swat Bots who blocked her escape.

"Put her with the others…" The other fox spoke, as she was dragged away, she noticed the orange fox's twin tails, which stuck out slightly from the bottom of his cloak. She put two and two together and realized, she had just been face to face with Miles Robotnik.

As she was being dragged away and rounded a corner, a carefully placed pair of shots struck the robots from behind. She bolted toward the location of the shot and found her father, he had a pair of blaster pistols he had gotten from the small armory. He pulled Fiona into a hug.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"They got Mom!"

She saw a look of shock cross her father's face, before it was replaced with pure anger. He told her to wait here as he left the cover, she watched as he lined up two carefully placed shots toward the fox she had just ran into a while back. The shots whizzed across the clearing and struck the fox in the back, he fell down into the snow, the remaining Swat Bots turned to face their new opponent. He managed to hit one, bringing it down as the younger fox stood back up. He was clutching his shoulder in pain, the pistol shots burning holes through his cloak and into his uniform. As Miles stood back up, he was instantly struck again and fell down to the snow, completely unconscious and bleeding heavily. Fiona's father smiled at his victory, before being promptly shot in the side, the high power causing the blast to pierce completely through him. While he had been distracted, reinforcements had arrived and completely caught him of guard. He felt to the snow, and succumbed to his wounds. Fiona, completely devastated by the scene, ran off into the forest, doing anything to get away from what she was seeing.

The screams slowly faded away and Fiona found herself completely alone she didn't know what to do, she had never thought this would happen. The snow started to eat at her after a while, she had no warm clothing to protect her from the snow and after a while, she fully collapsed into the snow.

She woke up some time later, she was cold, too cold. Her mind was cloudy and she found herself unable to think straight. Nevertheless, she marched onward, hugging herself to try and keep warm. After a while, she collapsed again. She felt herself becoming covered with snow as she drifted back off into the inky black

 **-X-**

Fiona's eyes shot open and she tried to calm her breathing, she was alright, nothing could hurt her. Her eyes adjusted to the dark and she scanned around the room, the only other living soul was Tails, whom was obviously enjoying his dreams.

She resisted the temptation to attack him and turned to face away from the other fox. Just seeing him made her blood boil, especially after the memory she had just had. She wondered if her parents would still be around if it wasn't for Miles.

Looking back over to the fox, the idea planted itself inside her head. He was fast asleep, currently completely consumed by his dream, she could…

She glanced down at her bag next to her bed, she knew there was a small combat knife kept just inside it would certainly be more than enough, maybe she could slip out afterward.

She mulled over the idea for a bit longer, she stood from her bed and produced her weapon. She carefully stepped toward the kit's bed, not wanting to wake him or Kay, who was underneath the fox's cot.

She raised her arm up, then froze. It would be so easy, just like that, he would be dead. Her parents would be avenged, she thought of not just her, but everyone else who had been hurt by his actions.

The kitsune rolled over in his sleep, Fiona froze as he did before he settled back down and was fast asleep again. She slowly lowered her weapon and sighed, she couldn't do it, not like this. She didn't want to admit it but her talk with Tails and seeing him around the base made her realize that he wasn't his old self. She just couldn't bring herself to kill him now, especially not while he was asleep. Fiona stowed her weapon and climbed back into bed, she'd see tomorrow, it could wait.

 **-X-**

Fiona yawned and slowly sat upright, she went to stand up, only to find K.I.T. laying on the side of her bed, she gently moved the small robot aside and prepared herself for the day. As she went to return, she could hear Tails dressing in their shared room, she entered, and the fox quickly sound around and covered his upper body with the shirt he had retreaved. She swore she saw a flash of black on his fur but brushed it off. What she could see was the bright white bandage wrapped around the entirety of his chest, severely contrasting his orange fur.

He finished getting dressed, not saying a word to her, she took a glance at him. He was glaring daggers into her out of the edge of his vision. She was instantly on edge, "What?" She asked.

"You mind explaining what happened last night?" He growled.

Fiona went completely rigid, she slowly turned around to face the fox. "I- I debated on… I mean, I wasn't going to…"

"Liar!" Tails yelled tackling her to the ground, she swung at the fox and they began to brawl it out. Unbeknownst to them, Nicole was watching the whole thing, she hated seeing Freedom Fighters attack on another like this, but considering that Fiona had thought through attacking Tails last night, she figured there wasn't much of a choice. They would just have to figure it out. She debated on calling somebody in to stop them, but she guessed that would only postpone the problem. They just needed to settle their differences, one way or another.

The two still tried to beat one another up, throwing insults the whole time. Strangely though, they both didn't want to hurt the other too bad. The fight stopped when Fiona managed to land a punch to Miles' gut, directly where the bandages were on his chest, the kitsune doubled over in pain and Fiona took the opportunity to try and explain herself.

"Tails, you have to understand it was just an instinctive thing, I've waited for so long, I've wanted to kill you for my entire life. It was just too much."

The kitsune was still gasping for breath, the strike had knocked the wind right out of him, and stung like crazy. He felt really weak, he was having serious trouble breathing, he simply dismissed it as still trying to catch his breath.

"I'm sorry, but, you have to understand." Fiona continued.

She pulled Tails back to his feet. He was still a bit unsteady but otherwise, seemed fine. That was, until he collapsed. She caught him mid-fall, his breathing was raspy, and incredibly strained. She pulled him up and dragged him over to the cot, laying him down. Nicole witnessed the entire event and notified Bunnie, whom burst into the room.

"What's going on in here!?"

Fiona stepped back and let her investigate, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hit him that hard!"

Bunnie removed the kit's shirt and bandages, taking a look at his old injury. The impact had broken a rib, worse then that, the rib had managed to puncture one of the kitsune's lungs. It had deflated slightly from what Bunnie could tell.

"He'll be fine for a bit, good thing is he's still breathing. I'd give about two hours before it finally gives all the way out. He's been needing to see Dr. Quack anyways so I figure this works."

Fiona couldn't help but feel guilty, she hadn't meant to hurt him, just, roughen him up a bit. "Is there anyway I can help?"

"Can you fetch me the medical kit, he's gonna need some fresh bandages."

She did as instructed, returning with medical supplies. She assisted in applying fresh bandages to the wound, as she did, she caught a glimpse of the kitsune's back, along with all of it's injuries. She winced and continued working. Several doses of pain medication later, the kitsune seemed much more relaxed and at ease. Bunnie informed the rest of the group on what had occurred, Sally and Antoine added their own assistance to helping Bunnie apply medical help, along with getting him to Dr. Quack. Meanwhile, Sonic confronted her on what exactly had happened.

"I didn't mean to hurt him, it was just instinct."

Sonic sighed, "Look, I get it, but the point still stands, you debated on killing a fellow Freedom Fighter. I know what Tails is, I've seen what he's capable of, but he's gotten better. He's obviously not perfect, but he's been doing better."

"Again, I'm sorry…"

"I'm not really the one you're going to need to apologize to. I will say, I see where you're coming from."

"Thanks…"

"No problem!"

Fiona still felt the guilt weighing on her shoulders, and she figures, this wasn't the last time it would happen.

 **Alright, that's it for now! Feel free to leave me your thoughts, as well as check out my new story! Until next time!**


	22. Acquaintances

**Alright everyone! I'm back with another chapter! But first, I've got the reviews!**

 **TheGameNguyener: Thanks for the set of reviews! Tails and Fiona have some major bad blood between the two of them. Tails just wants to be accepted and doesn't trust Fiona completely yet. As for her, she has obvious reasons to hate him, he was personally responsible for the capture and robotization of countless Mobians. There's bound to be some tension.**

 **SharpDragonKlaw: Hopefully they get their differences ironed out so they can work together!**

 **Alright! Let's get started!**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **Acquaintances**_

Dr. Quack was completely overwhelmed, sometimes he wondered if being one of the best doctors on Mobius was a blessing or a curse. He got requests to help almost constantly, he couldn't wait until this war was over…

The door to his office opened, a familiar face stepped through.

"Princess!" Dr. Quack exclaimed, quickly fixing his outfit to look presentable. "I wasn't expecting you!" He noticed the orange figure draped over her shoulder. "I assume it's gotten worse?"

"A bit, I know you told me a few more days, but he needs it now, he broke a rib or two, he's having trouble breathing."

She laid him down on a nearby medical cot and the doctor started looking him over. Sure enough, his breathing was very faint and strained.

"Well, it's not something I can't fix. The issue is how long it'll take."

"You have an estimate?"

"I'd say about… A couple hours, depends on how bad it really is."

"Alright, I'll be back, if you need anything, you know how to contact us."

The doctor nodded and started investigating Tails' injuries. He sighed to himself, this was certainly not going to help his schedule.

 **-X-**

The kit's eyes slowly fluttered open and adjusted to the surrounding light. He wasn't in his room anymore, he remembered getting into a fight with Fiona, getting punched, then he blacked out. He tried to clear his head, sleep kept beckoning for him, but the fear of not waking up again kept him from dozing off.

He slowly rose onto shaky legs, bracing himself against a nearby wall. He still didn't feel great, but he figured it would wear off soon enough. As he pushed himself through the nearby curtain, he was immediately greeted by an unfamiliar face.

"You're awake!"

"Who- Who are you? Where am I?"

"I'm Dr. Quack, Sally brought you here just a few hours ago."

"You're a doctor?"

"Exactly! Normally, they would only contact me for emergencies though, Dr. Finitevus would normally handle these kinds of things. Considering his absence however, I was forced to step in."

"Do you know where Finitevus is?" Tails asked, somewhat concerned by his disappearance.

"He's off somewhere to the South, they've been in dire need of assistance for a while, seems he's convinced some of the others in the area to join him."

Tails let out a sigh of relief, "Where's Knothole?"

"Settle down for a second, Sally says she'll be back for you soon. I don't think you're in any condition to be heading out on your own."

Tails, while disappointed, had to agree. It was probably smarter to travel in a group, especially considering he was unfamiliar with this portion of the forest. So, he returned to his small area and felt back asleep. He just couldn't deny he was tired any longer.

He was awoken by gentle shaking, he looked up and found Sally was waiting for him, he stood himself out of his bed.

"Got your beauty sleep?" She asked, he responded with a soft smile. Before he could reply however, Dr. Quack entered.

"I told you Princess, not anything I couldn't handle!"

"I knew you could help, thank you for your time."

"It was a pleasure."

They went to leave, Tails thanking the doctor for his help. They wandered through the trees for a bit before Tails broke the silence.

"So, Princess…"

"Don't call me that, I don't like the formalities."

"It's just, I- I haven't quite realized what that really meant until now. What are you even the princess of?"

Sally stared at him blankly for a second, "Of course!" She responded, "He never told you, did he?"

It was Tails' turn to stare blankly; he didn't have a clue as to what she was referring. Sally noticed his confused expression, "I mean Robo- your father he probably never mentioned where Robotropolis came from, you probably weren't around to see it be built either, right?"

Tails nodded, Robotropolis was fully constructed when he was created.

"This may come as a shock, but Robotnik wasn't always a tyrant, he was a warlord for the Kingdom of Acorn, he served my father. However, eventually, his lust for power would consume him. He overheard Charles, Sonic's Uncle, talking to the king about something called the robotizier."

Tails shuddered at the word, flashes of memory from when he first learned of the device jumped into his thoughts.

He could still hear their screams…

"It wasn't designed with- that in mind." Sally commented, noticing his glazed over eyes and shook expression. "It was designed to help injured Mobians, Robotnik stole and modified the technology into what you know today, he turned on the capital. Every Mobian he captured only added to the onslaught, it was too much. I ran, my father stayed to defend the city. I don't know if I'll ever see him again."

"I'm sorry…"

Sally continued, trying to bottle up her emotions for later, when she had some time to herself. "Robotnik transformed the city into his own paradise. The way you know it, Robotropolis. He began his conquest to take over the world, that's why we're here."

"I- I never knew. I suppose I should start referring to you as Princess then?"

"Not until the war's over, if anything, I should be kneeling to you."

"What do you mean?"

"You are a prince, right?"

"I-"

"Heir to an empire? One with unimaginable power and resources at its disposal?" She replied, letting a small smirk cross her face as she turned the question on him.

Tails, meanwhile, was searching for the proper response, she had a point. He had never thought of himself like that, but…

"I, don't want to be a prince though." He responded.

"Why not?"

"I'm a traitor for one, and secondly, if I was a prince, I'd be one of a tyrannical kingdom bent on ruling the world."

"Fair enough, I guess we'll skip the formalities then."

The kit smiled at this, he didn't necessarily want to be referred to as 'Miles Robotnik, the Tyrant Prince'. He was already catching enough hate as it was.

They finished their trip in relative silence, Tails kept himself busy by admiring the autumn leaves as they dropped from trees until they arrived back at Knothole. He returned to his quarters to locate a fresh outfit; he figured an outfit change would be nice. As he entered however, he found Fiona was currently relaxing in their shared space. He went to close the door and leave when he was interrupted.

"Tails wait!"

He had some feelings of anger and betrayal arise, but nevertheless, decided to entertain her for a moment. He stopped in the doorway.

"I just, want to say, I'm sorry. I know what I did, I should have-"

"It's alright Fiona," Tails responded, reentering the room slightly.

"No, it's not. I could have killed you! I almost did!"

"I know you could have, but I understand. I've done, terrible things, if I was in your shoes, I don't think I could have restrained myself."

"That doesn't excuse it, there's got to be some way I can make it up to you." Fiona replied.

"You don't have to, I shouldn't have attacked you, I just, can't control my emotions. I'm working on it."

"Again, I'm sorry…"

There wasn't anything said for a bit, they sat in a somewhat comfortable silence.

Fiona asked a question that had been bugging her for a bit. "What happened to your back?"

"My- My father, he- I don't want to talk about it, I'm sorry." The kitsune responded, quiet sniffles betraying him as he tried to shut out the emotions that came with those memories.

Fiona wasn't quite fooled, she had some theories about it, none of which were good. It took at bit, but eventually, she coaxed him into telling her.

"He- beat me, I failed him, Robotnik never tolerated failure. Anytime I messed up, he would… It wasn't that I didn't deserve it… I never wanted to fail him, but it was just, it was so hard… I tried, I really did, I didn't want to fail, I guess I should have been more scared of succeeding, I just didn't want to get beaten again…"

Fiona wanted to try and comfort him a bit, but she still didn't fully trust him. Her view on the kitsune's stance had changed though. While she still was mad at him for what he had done to her father and mother, she realized that his own life might not have been as cushy as she originally thought.

Tails got a hold of himself, "I'm sorry, you didn't have to know all that."

"It's alright, I did ask..."

He was about to continue when Nicole's voice filled the room.

"Tails, Fiona, just so you know, we're heading out for another assault on Robotropolis once its dark, I suggest you start preparing."

Both foxes nodded, acknowledging the request. They packed themselves in relative silence, Tails went to ask Sally if there was anything she needed help with, while he was on his way however, he ran into Rotor.

"Miles, I've been looking for you!" He beckoned for the kit to follow him, which he did, they entered in to Rotor's workshop, the walrus lead him over to a nearby table.

"Considering Robotnik confiscated you pistols when he captured you, I figured you'd like a new set!"

Tails was presented a pair of black colored blaster pistols, he picked them up and felt their weight for a second. "Rotor, how did you make these, they're-"

"You'd be amazed how much is left from all the Swat Bot's we trash; I did some asking around for some of the parts though. It wasn't too hard."

"Thank you! These are incredible!" Miles had been needing a new set of weapons for a while, he wasn't fully confident in his abilities in hand to hand combat, he carried the two weapons back to his room and holstered them, placing the pair around his waist.

Within a few mostly uneventful hours, the group was prepared to embark on their next mission attempt, Tails only wished that this one would go smoothly enough. He wasn't quite sure how much sabotaging Robotropolis was doing for the war, but he wasn't about to complain. They all gathered at their meeting and discussed their plans.

"Alright," Sally began. "First things first, we're dividing into two groups. Me, Bunnie, Antoine, and Sonic will enter and move toward the production plants. Meanwhile, Rotor, Miles, and Fiona will be breaking into the prison block, that's our main objective for this mission, anything else after it is a bonus."

Sonic did a small fist pump at this comment. Tails stifled his laughter as Sally continued.

"Once you've freed any prisoners you can, escort them out of the city, the last thing we want is to just have them recaptured again, we'll meet up just South of the city, keep your communicators handy, chances are Robotnik isn't just going to let us leave. Is everybody clear?" She asked, specifically eyeing Sonic as she did so.

Everybody nodded in response.

"Let get going!"

 **Alright guys, that's everything for this chapter, slightly more relaxed chapter this time but I've got some major plans coming up so stay tuned! Until next time!**


	23. Emerald Madness

**Hello everyone! I've got the reviews and a quick announcement before we start!**

 **FRICKLE: Tails and Fiona have had a rough relationship, especially with him killing her parents. While they are working together, it doesn't mean their happy about it!**

 **One final thing before we start, with Parallel Lives ending soon, there's another poll on my profile! If you could fill it out, that would be amazing! Remember every vote counts! Let's get started on another chapter!**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **Emerald Madness**_

It had been several weeks since Fiona had joined Freedom Fighters and her relationship with many of them still had yet to improve. The days that had passed proved mostly uneventful, and most of the Freedom Fighters wanted something to shake up their schedule. Eventually, their wish was granted.

"Sally," Nicole began, finishing her scan of the surrounding area. "I'm detecting large discharges of Chaos Energy several miles directly South. It doesn't seem to be decreasing."

Sally was slightly concerned about this, because of the strength of the discharge was being detected from here. Even though they were miles away from it's source.

"Thanks Nicole, is there any chance you could get better readings on it?"

"Potentially, I'll let you know what I get, if anything."

Sally nodded, she figured checking it out couldn't hurt, she gathered several of the Freedom Fighters together and asked for volunteers, while almost everyone was willing, she would only take a few, some would have to stay behind in order to protect the surrounding area.

"We should only be gone a day or less," She had said. Most would volunteer just to provide help to others that needed it, but she selected several members to join her.

The five person team was comprised of herself, Sonic, Miles; whom had insisted on himself coming, Antoine, and Fiona.

Rotor and Bunnie, while disappointed in bot being able to come, knew that somebody would have to stay. Nicole had detected a near endless supply of Chaos Energy, which pointed to a Chaos Emerald being located near it's source.

Miles thought about this as he prepared his bag, he had heard of the Chaos Emeralds before, but had never actually seen one before. Sonic had given him a basic description as to what they were and how they worked, which was enough to satisfy his questions for now. He wanted to see more of the forest along with helping deal with whatever was causing these problem. He was excited at the concept of getting to see more of the forest, both of his tails were currently wagging in excitement. The habit to flick his tails had always been there, but now, he was completely consumed with excitement.

As Fiona entered to prepare her things, he couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt, their relationship hadn't gotten much better, he wanted it to change however but wasn't sure how to go about it. They didn't talk to one another, preferring to stay in a somewhat awkward silence. After they were prepared, the group set themselves off toward the south. Tails smiled to himself, autumn was in full force right now, lining the ground with fresh leaves. If they weren't occupied, he probably would have found the time to play in them.

As the fox took a deep breath, he smiled to himself and caught a falling leaf. While he didn't have much experience on the topic, he figured autumn was probably his favorite season. A gust of cold air ran over the group and Miles slivered slightly, he couldn't wait on his winter coat to finish growing in, it had started slightly, his fur was thicker than usual, but it wasn't very noticeable.

The group made small talk for the three hours it took to arrive at their destination Fiona and Tails somewhat avoided making eye contact on one another, but the times they accidentally did they quickly turned away. The village that they arrived to was in much worse state then Sally had recalled, many of the houses and buildings were partially destroyed. Scorch marks lined the walkways and walls.

"What happened here?" Sally thought aloud. Every other living soul in the village appeared to have left. She turned to the rest of the assembled group, "Everyone fan out, look for clues, and stay alert, whatever caused thus could still be here."

The others nodded and spread out. Fiona began to explore some of the nearby homes.

"I never should have come." She thought. The whole situation reminded her of her home village years ago. Everybody being forced to evacuate from something they couldn't even begin to fight.

There wasn't a trace of anybody else, they all seemed to be gone, off somewhere unknown to the group. As she ventured through the ruins, she didn't have much luck locating anybody, most of the rest of them didn't appear to be having much success either whenever she asked.

"Are you sure this is recent?" Fiona asked Sally when she finally found her.

"Nicole seems to think we're in the right place, the Chaos Energy here is abnormally high. There's something up, keep searching."

Fiona didn't need to be asked twice, she diligently continued her search. Though, it wouldn't be her who would find something first.

 **-X-**

Tails was just as stumped as everybody else, he thought that there was no way anybody could still be living here. As he entered into one of the abandoned houses, he could hear movement, along with the clattering of what sounded like something falling to the floor.

"For goodness sake!" A voice spoke. "Every time!"

The fox had no idea as to where the annoyed voice was coming from, but it was coming from inside his building, he decided to call out for them.

"Hey! Where did everybody go!?"

There was no response from the voice. Tails continued, "Look, we're here to help you out, but I need to know where you a-"

Before he could respond, the floor where he had been standing was vaporized by a form of energy blast, alarmed, he drew both of his pistols.

"What makes you assume I want to be saved?" The voice responded, "I've never felt better!"

"I don't know who you are, but you need to get out of here!"

Almost instantly, a figure emerged from the hole that had been created in the floor, he hovered for a moment before his feet touched the wood.

It appeared to be a white colored echidna with black stripes, a gray cape flowed behind him, he gripped what Tails could only assume had to be a Chaos Emerald. The bright green color standing out amidst the wreckage. The kitsune crouched down in a defensive stance, he activated his communicator's beacon, the others would be here soon. He just needed to stall until then.

"Who- Who are you?" He asked.

"Isn't it glorious!? This small gemstone is the key to everything! All the world's problems solved!"

Tails took a step back, the echidna was clearly insane. He took a glance at the Emerald, he assumed that the echidna wasn't going to want to part with it. Head have to take it by force.

He pulled the trigger on his blaster, firing a shot at his target's chest. Before he could even blink, the Echidna had already approached him with blinding speed, delivering a punch to the kitsune's gut, Tails staggered back a few paces.

"Is that all you've got?" The Echidna asked. "Some weapons?"

Sonic barreled into the room, landing a strike to the Echidna, the white colored animal was launched backward, into a nearby desk, destroying it as he impacted.

"Who is this guy?" Sonic asked.

"I don't know!"

"Well, let's show him what we've got!"

Tails nodded and they charged at the Echinda, only to be blasted back by an explosion, their opponent had created a blast of Chaos Energy near him, sending the two flying backward. Sonic slid to a stop against the wall, while Tails struck a nearby table and it overturned, sending him sprawling to the ground.

The two both rose back to their feet, as they did, the rest of the group finally arrived to help. The Echidna simply laughed, "Sure, sure, bring everyone! It won't matter!" Their assailant fired another blast toward the group, the blast destroyed the nearby wall of the structure, sending wood splinters across the room.

Antoine charged forward, Fiona followed closely behind, both trying to land a hit on their target. He dodged out of the way and released another blast of energy, this one flung not only Antoine and Fiona, but everything in the room outward. The structure began to crumble, bringing down the roof atop the combatants. As the Freedom Fighters all emerged from the rubble, only to find themselves face to face with the Echidna again. Sonic rushed him down and Tails covered him with blasts from his pistols. After the hedgehog connected, Sally struck him across the face, the Echidna stumbled backward. Fiona went to charge him as the other two had done, only to get caught in a explosion of energy, sending her flying backward into another hut. Tails noticed this.

"Fiona!" He yelled, running over to the hole in the wood. He pulled at the fragments of wood and threw them aside until he found Fiona, she was wincing in pain but still tried to unbury herself as best as she could.

"Are you alright?" Tails asked.

"I'll be fine," She replied, grabbing Tails' outstretched arm and pulling herself to her feet.

Tails helped her to her feet, and quickly realized that it wasn't as alright as Fiona thought it was. Her right leg had a massive slice across it, allowing blood to flow out across her fur. Tails gasped at the sight, "Fiona! You're- You're bleeding!"

"I'm fine!"

"You're not! Just- stay here!"

Fiona was going to protest, but the concerned look in his eyes made her reluctantly agree. She turned her attention to the wound as Tails scoured the nearby buildings for bandages. Fiona heard a nearby blast destroy another segment of building. The kitsune returned back in a few moments with a set of bandages, he knelt down to her leg and started to tightly wrap the bandages around the leg.

"I can do it, go help the others." Fiona told him. Tails paused, but reluctantly nodded at left her with the bandages.

He charged back into the fray, joining the other Freedom Fighters whom were still fighting the white skinned Echidna, he landed another barrage of Chaos Energy, forcing the group to dodge.

"Bow before Lord Finitevus! The new king of Mobius!"

Tails world slowed down at this sentence, it couldn't be true. As he better studied his appearance however, he was forced to come to the inevitable conclusion.

Their opponent was Dr. Finitevus… Something must have caused this change in him as Tails couldn't think of any reason why somebody who he had seen as a friend was acting like this. He glanced at the Chaos Emerald, that had to be why, his mind refused to rationalize it any other way.

He rejoined the rest of the Freedom Fighters at their position, dodging energy blasts along the way. Suddenly, knowing who their opponent was, he wished he had stayed with Fiona.

"Hey bud," Sonic began. "You got any ideas?"

Tails thought for a second. "Well, getting that Emerald is probably a solid start."

Sonic nodded, "That we know, you got anything else?"

Tails shook his head. "I've not nothing else."

He hung his head slightly, only to have Sonic lightly ruffle his bangs. "It's alright! I didn't think you'd know something essential anyways. Where's Fiona?"

Tails pointed over to a half destroyed building nearby, Sonic continued. "You know, by the way you yelled when she was hit, I would have guessed you two actually liked each other for a second there."

Tails was about to protest until he realized something, he legitimately cared for Fiona, he wasn't sure when it had happened. In fact, he thought that she could be a friend.

 _"No,"_ He thought, shaking it out of his head. _"She hates you, remember?"_

He listened to the rationalization in his head, before he had to deny it. It simply didn't explain why he felt this way about her. He just couldn't think of a word to describe it.

The Freedom Fighters prepared for another charge at Finitevus. Tails felt nervous, the Echidna had always been a friend to him, and now knowing the identity of their opponent, he wasn't sure he could bring himself to attack him. Despite his he prepared himself alongside his teammates and charged forward. Still not understanding why he had cared for Fiona so much.

 **Alright guys, thanks for reading! I'm sorry about the long waits on chapters right now, end of year for school is insane right now. After it's all over I should be able to get back on a somewhat regular update schedule again! Also, remember there's a poll on my profile! Filling it out would be amazing of you! Until next time!**


	24. Reunions

**Hello! Good to see everyone again, let's get started with another chapter!**

 **Sonic vs Evil: They both have solid reasoning for not trusting one another, but I think they're beginning to see each other in a more positive light!**

 **Let's get going!**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **Reunions**_

Tails had really hoped it wouldn't have come to this, but the Freedom Fighters had fallen back to better prepare and position themselves for Finitevus. Fiona had also since rejoined the group after completely wrapping her injury in bandages.

"He's just too strong with the Emerald, we need to get that away from him." Sonic began. "I figure I could get close enough, we'd just need to keep him distracted."

"We can't lose you Sonic," Sally responded. "You can try it but know that your safety is over winning here."

She looked around the group, "That goes for all of you. If you need to, bail out, don't do anything reckless."

Everyone nodded, and they laid out a basic plan for retrieving the Emerald, Tails was still somewhat in shock about learning their assailant's identity and was approached by Fiona.

"What's up? You're acting really distant lately."

"It's just, do you know who that was back there?"

She shook her head.

"It's Finitevus…"

Fiona took on an expression of surprise, before eventually continuing. "Wow… I guess that really puts a perspective on things, huh…"

"I just don't understand how…"

"It's the Chaos Emerald, Finitevus tried to find some of them when he was younger." Fiona explained, "I guess the temptation was just too much."

"How do you know that?"

"Finitevus was, kind of my adopted father in some ways."

"What do you mean by that?"

"He took care of me after my parents died, at least, until I was confident enough to be on my own. He treated me like the daughter he never had…"

"It's got to be hard to accept that you have to fight him."

"I imagine you know what that feeling is too, genius." Fiona replied, a somewhat playful tone in her voice.

Tails was forced to stifle his laughter, "Fair enough, I guess there's more going on in both of our heads."

"You could say that again…"

There was silence between the two for a moment, Fiona eventually broke it. "Miles, I just want to say, I forgive you…"

The kit was stunned for a moment before responding, "Are you sure?" He asked, "I, don't think I deserve it…"

"You do Miles, I'm still sore about it, but hating you isn't going to bring my parents back. You're, a good guy, it's just, hard to see sometimes."

"Again, I'm so sorry for what I did, but I'd like to say… I forgive you too, for treating you unfairly, I understand where you were coming from when you first arrived, I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."

Fiona smiled back at him, "Thanks…" She was cut off by a gentle hug from the kitsune, and she returned the favor. Meanwhile, a certain blue hedgehog couldn't help but smile at the scene. Sally had been right; it did work out.

 **-X-**

"Alright everyone, we ready?"

Everybody responded by nodding, Sally continued. "Good, because we're only going to get one good shot at this, if we mess up, he'll know what we're up to."

The remainder agreed and spread out to their positions around Finitevus' 'lair' which was actually just a ruined building he was hiding in. Sally and Antoine entered from the front, while Fiona and Tails snuck around back and climbed into the damaged roof above, Sonic was positioned just around a nearby corner, but was able to see by looking through a small gap in the damaged wall.

Tails and Fiona could hear Finitevus from their spot in the ceiling. However, they had been told to wait until he attacked, which Sally claimed was inevitable. Miles drew both of his pistols and tried to keep watch on their target from above.

The two could just barely make out what he was saying, and occasionally, it was even difficult for them to quite figure out what it was, between the two of them they managed.

"I know about your goal, and I assume the others are around here somewhere, correct?"

Sally tried to conceal her facial expressions, but Finitevus knew exactly what he was talking about.

"I see, well, why don't I ask them to join us?"

Tails instinctively let out a yelp in surprise as an energy blast grazed the tips of his fur and the wood beneath him gave out and he fell to the ground in a pile of broken wood and dust.

"Exactly as I thought," Finitevus remarked. Moving over to the kit, whom was still dazed from his fall. He extended his hand and telepathically lifted him into the air next to him. While the fox still had full movement, he was held far enough away that his attacks were unable to reach the echidna. Tails had dropped his weapons after impacting the ground.

He turned back to Sally and Antoine and continued, "As you can see, I'm on to your little tricks, it is useless to think you can-"

Before he could finish, he was assaulted from above, turning around had given Fiona the chance she needed to pounce onto him from above and throw him to the ground, the impact broke his focus and Tails was released from his grip. Sally and Antoine engaged, but Sonic remained in his position, he had been told to wait for something specific.

Being assailed from all sides, Finitevus drew the energy out of the Chaos Emerald and discharged it, causing a shockwave to strike the Freedom Fighters and throw them backward. Sonic immediately ran out of his space and dove at the Emerald in his hand, it came out with little resistance just as the echidna was relaxing his hand from drawing the energy.

Finitevus' eyes went wide in shock for a moment, the vermin had taken it from him.

"You know, you really should be more careful with these things," Sonic began. "Takes a lot out of you doesn't it?"

During the planning meeting, Fiona revealed she knew information about the Emeralds from when she had been living with Finitevus, the doctor had shared most of his findings with her. It came to their attention that preforming a large explosive blast like he had earlier would consume a large amount of the available energy, while the Emeralds did have unlimited energy, they could only discharge so much at once. Sonic had been told to wait until he had used most of the energy against the others, whose job had been simply to tire him out.

The doctor hadn't even expected it…

Without the Emerald, the doctor began to collapse to the ground, he was seemingly exhausted as he tried to approach the Freedom Fighters, falling to the ground underneath his feet. Fiona rushed to his side and began to shake him awake, eventually he responded, which relieved the vixen. She helped the echidna to his feet.

"Fiona?" He asked somewhat confused, she responded by pulling the echidna into a hug.

"What happened?" Finitevus asked, "The last thing I remember is-"

"It's alright," She responded. You're alright now…"

Tails watched the reunion with an odd feeling in his chest, he wanted to talk to Finitevus again, he figured now wasn't the best time. He was still curious as to exactly what had happened here, because he figured Robotnik had something to do with it.

The others celebrated and debated on what to do with the Emerald.

"Can we destroy it? Did we try that the last time we got one of these?" Sonic asked, Sally shook her head.

"I don't think it's possible, they're ancient, I don't think they even can be destroyed by each other. The best we can do is stop them from falling into Robotnik's hands…"

Sonic and Antoine reluctantly nodded as Sally placed the Emerald into her bag, it seemed the best they could do at the time. There weren't many options as to it's use here, maybe it could be utilized back at Knothole…

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to them, a small camera bot was perched on the surrounding wreckage, quietly transmitting their every move, word, and action back to Robotropolis.

 **-X-**

The doctor sat in his seat, thinking over what he had just seen. The white echidna, Finitevus, was something he had been studying for a few days now. Seeing what he just had now however, changed everything. He suspected that taping into the power of the Chaos Emeralds was possible with seven of them, but seeing it done with only one. It broadened his thoughts on what was possible, knowing this new info dozens of ideas ran through his head, but one came back to him again and again. It was something he had already been considering, but with the new knowledge, he had some new ideas for some improvements, he quickly pulled up the project file and made some changes, it was a rather simple change in theory, but having to design all new code for it to allow for connection to Chaos Energy proved challenging.

After several hours of working, it was ready.

Shard, Robotnik's personal artificial intelligence, was alarmed by a sudden command from his master. He didn't want to respond, but the circuits the doctor had installed in him forced him to answer.

"Computer," The deep voice echoed in his head. "Execute program J-62"

Shard was for once stunned at the order but was forced into complying. "Sir, are you certain? I thought that project was marked as a failure?"

"It was, but we're had a bit of a development since then, and I think it's time we revisit it."

"Are you certain you have the time for a third attempt? The first two backfired terribly…" Shard continued, when he was captured and uploaded into Robotnik's networks, he was forced into complying to the doctor's wishes, but it didn't prevent him from trying to reason the doctor out of what he wanted, as unsound as he reasoning was, it worked sometimes due to Robotnik's arrogance.

"I'm certain, you know what they say, third time's the charm."

Shard digitally sighed, there wasn't anyway around this. He opened the project file and began an execution, warming up circuits that hadn't been used in almost a decade. After a moment he responded to the doctor.

"Project J-62 active…"

"Excellent work! Now, we wait for those meddling creatures to bring us exactly what I want!"

"And what would that be?" The AI asked.

"You'll see soon enough, I'll be unstoppable, there'll be nothing that can stop my reign!"

"What if it refuses? What if you end up with another-"

"Silence!" Robotnik yelled, "You do not speak that name do you hear me! It was merely a design flaw, allowing too much personal freedom, but now… I know better… We will be invincible! Those rodents will beg me for mercy, and I will laugh as their hopeless cause falls to pieces! They've been outmatched since the beginning!

The doctor left the room and Shard was left back to himself, he looked back over his project files, many concerned him, but after reviewing the code for the one he had just been given, he was now terrified, if it worked, it could create something truly unstoppable…

Shard was once again, terrified of Project: Synthesis…

 **Alright everybody, that's all for today, let me know your thoughts in a review, and follow to receive notifications when the next update is out! Until next time!**


	25. Snow Day

**Hello! Welcome to Chapter 25! To be honest, this is an amazing milestone and I never thought I'd see the day one of my stories had 25 chapters! Let's not waste any more time!**

 **Guest: Yeah, sorry about the really long wait on the last chapter. I had a lot going on, but I should be able to update much more consistently now that I'm out for the summer!**

 **Dinner: Robotnik is certainly up to something, I wonder what it could be?**

 **TheGameNguyener: Tails and Fiona getting over their bad blood should allow for some more fun moments between both of them! Robotnik does have something in the works to help deal with the heroes!**

 **Alright everyone! Let's get going!**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **Snow Day**_

Two weeks had passed since Finitevus' rescue and no major events had passed, they had completed another two raids on Robotropolis in that time. It had also gotten colder, threatening snowfall, until one night, where it finally happened.

Tails yawned as he woke up, Fiona was seemingly already out of the room. He got himself dressed and ready for the day. Some of the other Freedom Fighters were gathered in the main living area. He rubbed the sleep out if his eyes and joined them.

"Hey Tails," Fiona began, ushering him over. "You slept well I assume?"

The kit smiled, "Yeah, why us everybody awake so early?"

Fiona pulled him to his feet and lead a somewhat confused Tails to the exit door, the kitsune expected to see the usual brown and oranges. He was surprised to find everything covered in thick white snow. The kitsune took a step outside and jumped back as the snow touched his feet. Fiona laughed at the reaction.

"What? You ever seen snow before?"

"I have, it's just, I didn't think it was this cold!"

Fiona then had a devilish thought and pushed the kit over into the snow, causing him to fall. He quickly panicked and jumped upright, the snow clinging to his fur. He glared at Fiona, whom was trying hard not to laugh at Tails. He shook off and stepped inside.

"You should have seen the look on your face!" Fiona spoke.

Miles let a soft smile cross his face, it was a bit funny now that he thought about it. "Let me get my boots."

He put on his boots and wrapped a spare brown scarf that he found around his neck. He didn't necessarily need much when it came to winter clothing, his fur would keep him pretty warm as it was. Returning to the entry way he found Fiona already waiting, the two stepped outside. They sat in a comfortable silence for a bit, Tails simply admired the snow around him.

"You have seen snow, right?" Fiona asked, noticing his confused expression.

"I mean, yeah but, most of the time, it was a nuisance at best. Robotropolis didn't get much snow, mostly because of all the pollution making it hard for clouds to get close enough. It rarely snowed, but it would be cleaned up quickly."

"So you haven't really gotten to really, experience it?"

"No, I actually think this is the first time I've stopped to really take it all in."

While Fiona could help but watch his childlike fascination with snow, she felt a bit bad for him he hadn't really gotten to live what could be considered a normal life. Tails walked over to her with a somewhat uneven ball of snow in his hands. He seemed proud of himself, which prompted a smile from Fiona.

 _"He's like a child."_ She thought. Tails flopped down into the snow, leaving a imprint of himself. He stood back up and ran over to Fiona.

"This is actually really fun!" Tails began.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself at least."

"You bet!"

Fiona waited a moment before continuing, "So, I've always wondered, how did you get another tail? It just seems really odd."

"I was just born with it. It's a side effect of the growth enhancer Robotnik grafted to us."

"Us?"

"Project: Synthesis, that's what he called us at least. I wasn't the first."

"Who was?"

"I don't know much about her, I know her name was Sonia, but not much else outside of that, she didn't live more than a week or two so there's not much data available."

"You mentioned a growth enhancer?" Fiona asked.

"It let's Robotnik skip the less desirable parts, quickly ages us while its active. It's done with a injection that he normally gives us just as we wake up for the first time. Goes through four or so years of physical and mental growth in just a week or two. There's a sight modification to my DNA that allows my body to handle it, with anybody else, there's no telling what it would do."

"Makes since, so, how old are you exactly?"

"Physically? I think about thirteen, though I'm not completely sure. As for how lone since I was created? Eight, I forget the exact date."

"Didn't you ever think what you were doing was wrong?"

"Sometimes, Robotnik kept the details from me." Tails responded.

"Did he give you the Tails nickname?"

"Luckily no, that was Sonic's idea. Originally I didn't really like it, but I think its grown on me."

"It's a perfect nickname, calling you Miles just feels a little odd now. I've got one more question, if that's alright. Why even bother?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why did Robotnik go through all the trouble to create another living being rather then just giving the job to a robot?"

"He was tired of being bested, now that I look back on it, he's a bit too full of himself. He doesn't realize it's his mistakes that cause failure. I guess if he wasn't so overly confident, I wouldn't have been made in the first place. He figured that since his robots couldn't get anything done, living things would be better. Now obviously, he can't use prisoners or robians for different reasons. So he needed one from scratch, the idea was they would be more insightful then robots and be able to adjust plans on the fly. I guess he forgot that giving me my own freewill was a bad idea. I looked up to him, but finding out what he was actually up to broke the illusion."

Fiona thought through her response for a moment, "I guess that makes sense, well, it's nice having you here." She pulled the kit into a light hug, he returned the gesture.

"Same goes for you! It's nice meeting all of you!"

Fiona did have to admit, his enthusiasm was contagious and it was starting to rub off onto her.

About an hour later, the two foxes returned to Knothole. Both completely coated in snow from the falling crystals in the air, and because they had a small snowball fight during their time out. Sonic couldn't help but notice the two, still chatting away as they entered.

"I take it you enjoyed yourselves?" He asked, before Fiona could respond, Tails already had.

"Yeah we did!" The kit exclaimed. "How have I not done that before?"

"Good to hear that bud," Sonic responded. Pulling the kit over and ruffling his bangs. "Well, you're going to get to see more of it, we're doing another strike on Robotropolis later today, once it gets dark."

Tails nodded, and continued explaining to Sonic what had happened. Fiona left, she decided to prepare some of her stuff early. As she was getting everything ready, Sonic stepped into her and Tails' shared room.

"Where's Tails?" Fiona asked.

"He went back outside, I don't think he's still over his excitement."

"You should have seen him earlier."

"Yeah, but I'm not exactly here to talk about Tails. I'm here about you."

"What about it?"

"I've just noticed I don't know a lot about you, heck, I know more about my once mortal enemy then my own teammate!"

"Alright, what do you want to know?" Fiona responded.

"Well, what's your motive, I know Robotnik killed your parents. But it can't be that simple."

"I just want his destruction to end, specifically, ruining people's lives. I just want the peace we had before Robotnik back. How about you?"

"If he wins, it'll mean the end of all life as we know it. I want to protect not only those lives, but their freedoms as well. Back to you, how'd you live during the time you were on your own?"

"I stole, really whatever I could get my hands on. I learned to fight and how to live on my own. I did what I had to."

"Yikes, it was really that bad?"

"It sucked, that's why I wanted revenge on Tails for so long." Fiona responded. "Alright, my turn. Why do you keep doing this? Fighting Robotnik, haven't you already done enough?"

"Its something that me and Sal discussed at one point, but then we had a question we presented ourselves. 'If we don't fight, nobody will.' We weren't about to let that happen, we've gotten this far. We're not stopping now!"

Fiona smiled, "Well then count me in!"

 **-X-**

The group approached Robotropolis just as night had fallen and one by one they vaulted the wall. Sally lead the group as they began their advance, taking out sets of robots with their advance as they approached the arms depot and primed it with explosives. Sally proposed a new plan.

"Considering we haven't set off any alerts, I think we could split up and hit several other targets."

The rest of the Freedom Fighters agreed and continued listening.

"Sonic, Antoine, and Bunnie, you'll take the warehouse just North of here. Rotor and I will move East and do the same. Tails and Fiona, there's another weapon depot North as well, I want you to get that."

They all nodded and after some brief instructions, headed off toward their targets. Tails and Fiona climbed onto a nearby roof top and began to approach their target. The snow underfoot crunched with every step. As they moved, the city alarm activated, somebody had been spotted. They jumped into the depot and prepared the explosive charges and clambered back onto rooftops, it would be safer.

Suddenly, Tails felt something hit him in the back of the head, a pinprick if he had to describe it and suddenly his entire body and eyelids felt incredibly heavy. He instinctively tried to yell to Fiona, who was in front of him for help but his voice refused to respond. He felt the world fall out from underneath him as he collapsed onto his stomach, unable to keep the darkness at the edges of his blurry vision at bay.

Fiona looked backward moments later and found Tails lying on the ground behind her, she noticed a dart was stuck out of the back of head, tranquilizer if she had to guess. Which meant…

She quickly dodged to the side and a second dart flew past her head. As she turned around a dark figure appeared on the rooftop across from her. He wore a cloak, and as such it was difficult for her to make out any of his appearance. She watch him draw what looked to almost be a sword. Utilizing what combat abilities she had, she swept the attacker off his feet. The figure swung at her from the ground and she pinned his arm down with her foot.

However, she suddenly felt a light impact on her arm, it was another dart, he quickly removed it but the sedative had already done its job. She suddenly felt woozy, and almost instantly she collapsed. Before she did however, she could have sworn her assailant vanished in a cloud of red smoke.

 **Alright guys, that's all for now! I wanted to write some fluffy moments at the start! Let me know what you thought! Be sure to follow to receive updates when I post another chapter! Until next time!**


	26. Taking Oaths

**Hello! Now that we're past 25 chapters, I say a quick update is in order! I'm currently pretty happy with how my three current stories are faring! You guys seem to be enjoying them, however, I would still like to improve my writing a bit more! In order to do that, I need your input! I've posted a poll on my profile, so if you could answer that so I can get some ideas, that would be awesome!**

 **I've got a review before we begin!**

 **Sonic vs Evil: I feel like if you're going to do Sonails, you need to know from the onset. I've got the whole story planned and while I do like the input, I already know what I'm going to be doing with the story.**

 **Let's get going!**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **Taking Oaths**_

Fiona woke what was probably hours later. She wasn't on the rooftops like she remembered, instead, she had been moved out of Robotropolis entirely. She jumped up to her feet as the tranquilizer wore off. She quickly scanned the surrounding area as the fog covering her thoughts dispersed, keeping a blanket that she had suddenly been wrapped around her close to stay warm. She seemed to be uninjured, however, that wasn't her concern. Tails was nowhere to be found, neither were the other Freedom Fighters.

Her first thought after that was what the other Freedom Fighters were thinking, she and Tails hadn't returned after being sent out on their own. According to them, they had at least been captured, or worse…

Something just didn't make sense however, why wouldn't Robotnik have captured her? The more she thought about it, the more confusing it became. Inevitably, she was forced to come to one conclusion, they hadn't been ambushed by Robotnik. They had taken Tails for some reason she didn't know, but herself hadn't proven enough trouble to take, so they moved her out of harm's way and left.

However, this explanation left one essential question, why? Why take just Tails? Why bother moving her limp self out of Robotropolis? If they wanted prisoners, then why bother?

She figured her reasoning had to be wrong, but the more the questions presented themselves, the more and more likely her earlier explanation became. They hadn't been attacked by Robotnik, rather, by somebody else entirely.

 _"Alright Fiona, don't freak out. Just find your way back and everything will be alright!"_

The problem? She had no idea where she actually was. It seemed to be about morning, so she had been out all night, Robotropolis was nowhere in sight. Additionally, she figured there wasn't going to be a search party over where she was for a long time. The other Freedom Fighters had no way of knowing her location or that fact that she was even out of Robotropolis… She decided there wasn't any point in sitting around and waiting. She tried using the sun to orient herself, she knew Knothole was due South from Robotropolis and figured that would be a good place to start. She faced South and began to walk, hoping that she would run into somebody or something that could help her figure out exactly where she was…

The other Freedom Fighters meanwhile, were having a slight panic attack. When Tails and Fiona didn't return for their own mission, they tried to buy as much time as possible, but eventually were forced to retreat. They still hadn't shown up by the next morning, the consensus was that they had to have been captured, and more than likely, Robotnik wasn't willing to keep them that way for long…

A quick plan for a rescue mission had been drafted, however, while they had breached the prison compound and freed several prisoners, neither of them were present. At that point, many of them shared the same opinion.

Fiona had more than likely been robotizied, and Miles either shared the same fate, or was killed all together…

Everybody was affected by the news in one way or another. There wasn't any evidence that guaranteed their capture, but considering they circumstances, it seemed anything else was rather unlikely…

Sally was hit really hard, it had happened to their two youngest team members and because of this she ended up ultimately blaming herself for what she assumed was their deaths. She knew that somebody still had to take charge, but she figured some time alone could do good for her own self conscious. It wasn't like they didn't try to help them, they had just been careless… After a while, Sonic quietly entered the room.

"Sal? You alright?"

"I'm fine Sonic, just a bit shook."

"I think we all are, it's almost like when…"

Sonic noticed the look Sally gave him and he quickly cut himself off.

"Sorry," He continued. "I didn't mean to…"

"It's alright, I'm thinking about it as well. I just cant believe we let somebody die again!"

"Accidents happen Sal, I'm not perfect and neither are you."

"How's everybody else holding up?"

"They're doing alright." Sonic replied, "Mostly though, they want some form of revenge…"

"Oh we'll get our revenge, we'll get it by ending this war once and for all!"

"You mean it? We've tried before and Elias…" Sonic quickly clamped his mouth shut, hoping she hadn't noticed.

If she did, it didn't seem to phase her, "I know we have, but we've got so much more information since then! It's about time we try it again!"

The hedgehog couldn't help but agree as the two rejoined the group to discuss their plans.

Fiona, meanwhile, was still wandering about on her own. _"Well, they don't call it the Great Forest for nothing…"_ Fiona thought to herself as she continued through the trees, she had still seen no sign of any of the other Freedom Fighters, nor any civilization either, just thick snow covered trees as far as the eye could see.

Fiona was still doing rather well despite being lost with no sense of direction. She knew how to find food and construct a basic shelter, which she decided with night falling, was probably going to be needed. She gathered some larger branches off some trees and started working on a shelter, it wasn't going to be much, basically four walls and a roof. But it would have to suffice for now, it would be much more comfortable then staying the night out in the cold and snow. She set up inside a small cave that she found after walking for a bit longer. The cave was warmer, but not by much. She constructed a front to it with a combination of snow, branches, and leaves and settled in for the night. She was unable to create a fire, so just her natural body heat, shelter, and the blanket that had been with her would have to do…

She curled up to try and retain body heat as best she could and slowly drifted off to sleep. Hopefully she'd find her way back soon…

Fiona awoke the next morning, she was still lost, but spent some time gathering whatever food she could find and continued onward. She knew she wasn't going to be able to survive on her own for forever, especially in the middle of winter. She was going to need proper shelter and food at some point. As she continued walking, she allowed her thoughts to wander further. Knowing the other Freedom Fighters, chances were they were going to try something brash to make up for her and Tails' disappearance. Hopefully she could find her way back before that happened and one of them ended up killed.

Due to her extended absence, they probably assumed the two of them were dead, chances were, there would be no assistance or help from the others. She was on her own until she could find some help herself. It somewhat reminded her of her life after her parents had both died, she had gotten used to having others to fall back on, but without it, she felt the existential dread beginning to work itself back into her thoughts.

She was going to need to find civilization, quickly... Before she froze to death out here…

 **-X-**

"Didn't we try this before?" Rotor asked, still somewhat dumbfounded by what had just been presented. "Now you want to do it again with only five of us!?"

"I know what I'm proposing might seem, unusual, but now's as good of a time as any! We've learned more about Robotnik since last time, he's gotten too confident. If this plan works, the war will be over in just over three months. At the rate our current plan of sabotage and attrition goes, we'll be here for at least another two years, and that's assuming the information we have on Robotnik's supply lines are accurate. Even after that, we're reliant of his surrender."

Sally paused to gather her thoughts before continuing, "I know what happened recently has had Elias on all of our minds. But he would have wanted us to take this opportunity, we can't let this go on any longer then it has to, we can't allow more innocent lives to be lost."

Silence temporarily filled the room eventually Bunnie decided to speak up. "Sally, I'm with ya, it's time we end this…"

Antoine followed close behind her, "While I'm not the biggest fan of it, I do think that it's about time we gave it another attempt. Robotnik won't be stopped by us just sitting around."

"Agreed," Rotor responded. "We need to take action, and if you think this is really the best plan, then I'm with you."

Sally smiled, "Good, because we're going to need all the help we can get. I'm going to tell you all now, this plan has it's risks, but we're not going to win by playing it safe. Robotnik has an almost endless supply or resources at his disposal. Before we take him out, we're going to cripple him as best we can. Try to cut off anything he could use to stop us, that's when we'll strike.

So it was agreed, the attack plan was laid and would come to fruition in a few months, risks would have to be taken, even ones that involved putting their very lives on the line. In the end though, it would be worth it. Each one of them had their own reasons for taking this risk.

"For Freedom." Sonic began.

"For Peace," Rotor continued.

"For Vengeance." Bunnie added.

"For Stability." Antoine responded, everyone turned their bases to Sally as some completed it.

"For our Fallen."

The immediate response was smiles around the room as they confirmed their dedication to the cause. Soon, Robotnik's reign would come to and end…

Or so they hoped…

 **Alright everyone, that's all for now. This chapter is shorter than I usually do by a little bit, but I think it's for the best considering what the plans are for next chapter! I hope you all enjoyed! Until next time!**


	27. Fractured Minds

**Hey everyone! It's time for another update, but first, I've got quite a few reviews from last time so buckle in!**

 **TheGameNguyener: Thanks! I've noticed a serious improvement as well, and I'm super happy with it! Most of my older stuff was really short and not something I'm too proud of, but I'm very happy with how all the stories on my new profile here have worked out! I'll probably start running these things through Grammarly just to be safe!**

 **Witch08: That's a great question! One that will certainly be answered! I've got some ideas that I think you guys will like! So stay tuned!**

 **Rhapsody FFN: Thank you for the favorite! I try to keep most chapters around 2k words, I'll go longer if I feel it really needs it though!**

 **Dinner: Everything will be explained! Happy to see you're enjoying the story!**

 **Alright, let's get going!**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **Fractured Minds**_

Tails groggily opened his eyes, the tranquilizer was still doing a number on his senses. He felt lightheaded, numb, and a bit nauseous. Assembling coherent thoughts proved difficult, but he tried to manage as best he could. He was being dragged by two other Mobians, two jackals to be exact. He stumbled to his feet and kept pace with his two captors. He didn't get much of a choice, his wrists were bound and both of his escorts were armed.

He thought from the appearance of the fortified stone walls and demeanor of the guards that he was in a bunker of sorts, where exactly was difficult to say. But he had to guess somewhere near Robotropolis. He checked himself for his gear and found that the pack he had taken on the raid with him was gone, its supplies more than likely having been gone through.

Strangely however, Tails did still have his weapons, both pistols were still situated in their holsters. He didn't make a move for them however, as he would probably be shot or tranquilized again if he did. The kitsune simply decided to be obedient for now. After following his escorts for a while, he decided to break the silence.

"Who are you guys?"

"You'll see soon enough," The one to his left responded.

He didn't get much of a choice and stayed silent until they reached a more open room. Several of what appeared to be holographic displays were dotted around the room. He couldn't quite make out the exact details of the displays, but he recognized some of the buildings displayed being from Robotropolis. Before he could come to a conclusion however, he was struck lightly in the back as one of the guards spoke.

"Sir, he's all yours."

Tails' attention quickly turned to another jackal that turned at the statement. He wielded a short sword, it curved slightly, giving it more the appearance of a cutlass or scimitar. The jackal eyed him for a moment, and Tails noticed his distinctly colored eyes, both had different colors to them.

"So, Robotnik, you're probably wondering why you're here. I suppose I owe you an explanation. My name is Infinite, and we call ourselves the Jackal Squad." He began.

Tails was indifferent at the statement, but he kept his attention focused on who he assumed had to be the leader.

"We've brought you here for one purpose. Vengeance…"

"You don't know what you're talki-"

"Silence!" Infinite exclaimed, rage tinting his voice. "Your father took everything from us, so I'm going to do the same to him. The Freedom Fighters might be fooled by your act. But I am not weak like them. I refuse to be retrained by their morals. Robotnik has no morals of his own, and it's simply because of their restraint that they allow this war to continue!"

The jackal appeared to be starting part of a rant, and so Tails decided to simply not interrupt him as he continued. As Infinite spoke, he noticed the others in the room didn't seem to notice or were even familiar with his rants.

"Thousands suffer because of their pathetic moral code. They don't have what it takes to finally bring this war to an end! They're selfish weaklings!"

The jackal looked over to the fox, whom found himself suddenly the target again. Infinite seized a small circular ruby by him and held it in his palm. "Do you know what this is?" He asked. Tails shook his head.

"It's called the Phantom Ruby, and it's the reason why you're here. You see, because you took everything from us, I'm going to take everything from you."

With the completion of the sentence, the floor underneath Tails broke way and he found himself falling into an endless black abyss. He straightened himself out and tried to control his breathing. As he did, something appeared at the bottom of the pit, water.

The impact struck the air out of his lungs and he tried to swim back to the surface, only to find it would always stay just out of reach. His lungs were burning and eventually, he passed out from lack of oxygen.

He awoke in a prison cell and immediately started coughing up water and gasping for breath. He rolled over onto his back. As he stood up, he found he recognized his surroundings. He was in Robotropolis… Panic set in as almost immediately shackles around his arms and legs activated and he was no longer able to move properly. He was forcefully dragged out of the entrance to his small cell by a Swat Bot, he quickly found himself in the Robotizier and the transformative device activated. The fox threw himself against his glass confines and to his surprise it gave way and he tumbled out of the machine. He was instantly greeted by blaring alarms in his ears as he tried to escape, it occurred to him as he was fleeing that he heard heavy metal footsteps rather than the ones he was used to. As he turned a corner he found himself face to face with Robotnik.

As he tried to run away, he found that the hallway he had just ran down was already blocked off by Swat Bots. He was grabbed by the scruff of his neck and hoisted into the air by Robotnik, despite his kicking and flailing he was unable to break free. He felt the grip on Robotnik's hand tighten and eventually, he heard a sickening crunch and everything went black.

Tails screamed as everything came back into focus, he was still in the compound he had started in. With his heart racing a thousand miles a minute he looked down, his feet were perfectly fine, and he was still breathing. He frantically looked around, eyes wide at his surroundings, everything looked normal.

"That was more entertaining then I thought it would be!" Infinite exclaimed the Ruby in his hand had it's red glow slowly dying down. "I mean, I didn't even have to create that much! You mostly did it yourself!"

Tails was still having a panic attack, and as such was unable to find a proper response to what he had said. Infinite gestured to two of the other Jackal Squad members in the room who grabbed Tails. "Put him in the holding cell," Infinite began. "I'll be seeing him again shortly."

With minimal resistance, they carried the fox to a holding cell and put him inside. Tails just sat himself in a corner, not quite sure what to do with his thoughts. He was completely overwhelmed and had no idea if what he even was seeing was real.

 **-X-**

Fiona trudged onward through the snow, while she was refreshed after sleeping the night, she found that the frigid air still bit at her and she felt a hungry. It wasn't unbearable yet, though it would be if she didn't find some food or shelter.

 _"Can't everything go right for once?"_ She thought to herself as she walked. Almost as if she had jinxed herself, snow fell down from a nearby tree branch and covered her. She brushed it off and continued. Eventually, she came across some familiar landscape, it at least looked familiar.

 _"I've got to be close, I recognize these!"_ She thought, looking at the tree formations around her. With newfound resolve she pressed forward, until eventually, she had a very clear understanding of where she was. Eventually, she came across a very familiar fake tree. After searching the snow covered trunk for a moment, she brushed the snow away to reveal a small cavity in the wood. Reaching in she unlocked the door, the moment she did, she heard some scrambling down below. She slowly descended down and eventually found the other Freedom Fighters with their weapons drawn and on high alert toward the entrance. At her appearance, they relaxed a bit and lowered their weapons. Sally was the first one to speak.

"Fiona?"

She simply smiled back and was instantly pulled into a large group hug. She couldn't quite make out what everybody was saying, but knew that they were happy to see her alive.

"We never thought we'd you again!" Sonic exclaimed. "What happened?"

She gave a explanation of waking up in the forest after being attacked in Robotropolis, building her shelter for the night, and eventually wandering back.

"Well, we're just happy to see you're alright!" Bunnie commented. "Though you're probably starving, I'll get you something!"

Fiona quickly nodded, she was quite hungry and she sat down to eat her food. Sonic quickly pulled Sally aside as the rest continued their conversation.

"Sal, you don't think-"

"As much as I want to say he is Sonic, I don't think it looks good for Tails' chances."

"But Fiona is back! He was with her when-"

"Sonic, Robotnik didn't have a grudge against Fiona. For all we know, the mercenary team that according to Fiona knocked the two of them out, wasn't ordered to capture her. Tails is dead Sonic, I'm sorry…"

Sonic let out a quiet sigh at the statement, "Alright, I was just hoping we'd be able to…"

"It gives us more of a reason to finally end this war, one way or another…"

Sonic nodded and they returned back to the main living area to reunite with the rest of the group.

 **-X-**

Tails bolted upright panting and frantically looked around. Everything was back to normal, at least, that's what he thought. He was mentally exhausted by Infinite's most recent round of illusions and he sat himself on the cot in his cell. As he did, he caught movement out of the corner of his vision and jumped backward.

 _"Did- Did the ground just move?"_ He asked himself, almost immediately he was shoved from behind and landed face first onto the hard floor. Instantly, as he tried to pull himself upright, he found that the very floor he was on was pulling him downward, almost like quicksand. He pulled his hands out of the now semisolid floor and tried to do anything he could think of to escape. Eventually however, he found that it's hold grew stronger as it pulled him downward. He screamed out for help and his torso was fully submerged and eventually, it passed over his head and he started to black out.

Suddenly, he found himself bolt upright in his cell again, back where he had started. Only this time, Infinite was standing just outside the bars.

The jackal smiled, "You know, seeing your pain makes this all the more satisfying."

Tails shakily responded, not completely certain if this was an illusion or not. "H- How long are you going t- to keep me here?"

"Until somebody finally ends this war. Maybe I'll turn you in to the Council of Acorn. They can decide your fate." Infinite paused, "But until then…" The gemstone in his hand began to glow again. "Let's have some fun."

Tails felt his grip on reality fall away and was once again at the mercy of Infinite's illusions…

 **Alright everyone, that's it for now! Be sure to let me know what you thought! There's also a poll on my profile, if you could please fill that out that would be amazing of your guys! Until next time!**


	28. The Deal

**Hello everyone! I should probably explain why the updates have been much slower recently. I've just had some stuff come up and I mainly view fanfiction as a hobby. Because of this, everything else comes before it. I'm sorry for making you guys wait so long on new chapters and updates.**

 **Sonic Vs Evil: Infinite is a very interesting character, I really hope we get to see more of him in the future! He's a rather scary character just due to his ability set.**

 **Dinner: While I did recently see the movie, and loved it, I was already planning on this from the beginning! Getting some material to use as reference however was perfect!**

 **TheGameNguyener: Considering the circumstances of Tails' disappearance, it's really the only thought process that makes sense. He was captured and more than likely instantly killed… Fiona reuniting with the others was a neat moment, though it's somewhat dampened by what happened to Tails. Speaking of which, let's check in with him…**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **The Deal**_

Tails had been kept imprisoned by Infinite for two months now, and things were not looking good for an escape anytime soon. He was generally subjected to onslaughts of illusions several times daily, even occasionally while he was asleep. Sometimes they were obvious, but mostly, they were very subtitle and kept playing tricks on his mind to try and convince him they were real.

During this time, Infinite had also found a way to cause further pain by utilizing injuries Robotnik had already created. He found the fox's back a prime target due to it's already numerous injuries. In adding to his arsenal of mental abuse, he had pulled back the mental locks on Tails' mind to discover more about the other Freedom Fighters. Eventually, he was even able to use them against Tails in illusions to further increase his trauma.

Eventually under the intense mental and physical punishment, Tails broke…

He quickly became afraid to even talk to members of the Jackal Squad, for fear of giving them additional information they could use against him. He began to only communicate with animalistic growls, whimpers could be heard throughout the night from his cell. He became extremely paranoid and crafty, as many foxes are. Slowly, the memories of what the other Freedom Fighters were actually like began to be corrupted by Infinite's illusions. Eventually, he shut off the part of his brain responsible for accessing memories. It was a way of dealing with the constant barrage of punishment.

The fox still had his pistols in the cell with him, but didn't dare touch them as every time he had, he was severely beaten and punished. He had no chance of hitting the Jackal while his vision and thoughts were overwhelmed by illusions.

After being driven over the edge, Tails started having incredibly vivid dreams of breaking out of his cell and tearing the Jackal Squad to pieces with his claws and teeth. It disturbed him greatly, and in some ways, he began to see himself as more and more like his Father in the regard.

He had also not had the proper amount of food in order to keep himself sustained, he had lost a decent amount of weight during his time with Infinite. He was also constantly tired due to lack of sleep from paranoia and constant bombardments of illusions and gruesome dreams kept him from fully embracing the sleep he now desperately needed.

The other Freedom Fighters meanwhile, were making the final preparations for the final raid on Robotropolis, which was due in about one months time from now. They had the goal to destroy or cripple all of Robotnik's defense systems before they attacked. Before, they had kept focus on the supply lines and factories, but now they were forced into changing targets. They were ending this war, one way or another.

The six of them vaulted over a nearby barrier and took cover around the corner of a building. Getting seen would decrease the amount of damage they could do, so moving in utmost secrecy was important.

"Alright everyone," Sally began, handing everybody a singular explosive charge. "You know what to do…"

They divided into groups of two, Sally and Rotor moved inward toward the city. Bunnie and Antoine had been working as a team for as long as the other Freedom Fighters could remember. That left Sonic and Fiona to cover the outside edge of the perimeter. As they quietly and covertly took out any patrols without them being able to sound an alert to the others. They approached their target, a large group of defense systems tasked with guarding the main gate. As Fiona primed her explosive, something caught her eye.

"Sonic, do you see that?" She began, pointing outside the city limits.

The hedgehog glanced over and sure enough spotted a figure of some sort. He wore a dark cloak, so it was difficult to make out his exact features.

That was until he was shot at…

Dozens of plasma blasts passed though him, seemingly not having any effect on the cloaked figure at all. Each time they would connect the area around where was stuck would flash red momentarily before turning back to its standard appearance. Fiona recognized this particular shade of red, it was the same color she saw on the roofs of Robotropolis with Tails two months ago. She quickly relayed the information to Sonic.

"You're serious!?" He responded.

"I'm certain, it's him."

Before Sonic could respond, he heard gentile footfalls behind him, he turned around and found himself face to face with a jackal. His most prominent trait being his two distinctly colored eyes. He held a crimson colored sword at the ready and pointed it at Sonic in defense. He then slowly lowered it.

"Sonic the Hedgehog," The jackal began. "I never thought I'd see the day."

Sonic glanced at Fiona, who very faintly nodded, confirming this to be the figure she saw on the roof.

"And who might you be?" The hedgehog asked.

"You can call me Infinite."

"You with us?"

"The better question would be, are you with me?"

Sonic glanced at him quizzically and the jackal continued. "You're the only reason this war has gone on for so long, how many chances have you had to finally finish Robotnik over all these years?"

"We don't kill Infinite, that would make us just as bad as him."

"You really are pathetic aren't you? You think that you're above such things. That you should keep your mortal code, even if others suffer because of it!"

"Th- That's not what I-" Sonic stammered, only to be cut off.

"You can't understand what this war has caused. You only see ending it in the way that makes you look the best… Well now, I've got my revenge on Robotnik, and I'd like to thank you for taking him right to me."

That last sentence confirmed Sonic's suspicions and he immediately pounced atop the Jackal, quickly delivering a punch to the jaw. The Jackal was shocked, but simply laughed. "You didn't really think he was helping you? What had that fox done that you couldn't already do!?"

As much as Infinite had a point, the hedgehog only had one thought on his mind. "Where is he!?"

Fiona was taken aback in shock, she had never seen Sonic this angry. He was normally a pretty laid back teammate, but as of now he was dead serious.

Oh, I assure you." Infinite responded. "He's being kept alive. How about we make a deal, you end this blasted war, one way or another, and I let him go…"

"And what's to stop me from beating you to a pulp right now?" Sonic replied.

"Because if you do, I'm afraid he's not going to last long without me, as I said, he's being kept alive. No more than that…"

The emphasis on the word 'alive' made Sonic and Fiona shudder, how he was actually being treated was still up for debate. Sonic glared at the jackal, but eventually was forced to release him. Sighing as he did so. "He better still be alive… Because if he's not, you'd better hope you can run faster than me…"

Infinite simply smiled, "Pleasure working with you."

With the completion of the sentence, the jackal vanished, as the illusion dissolved into crimson smoke. The two Freedom Fighters sat in silence until Fiona spoke.

"Sonic, you're not actually thinking about-"

"Of course not, I'm not going to kill Robotnik. But, if I don't… Who knows what he'll do to Tails…"

Fiona thought it over for a moment, "Let's just finish the mission, then we can talk about what to do with the others."

Sonic nodded and the two armed their explosive charges and retreated out of the city limits to a rendezvous point in the nearby tree line. The others had already been assembled. Rotor activated the detonator as soon as it was verified that they were all clear of the city limits. The primed defenses and area were completely vaporized by the blast and the Freedom Fighters retreated toward Knothole, as they did, Fiona brought up the confrontation with Infinite.

"He wants us to end this war now," Fiona explained. "Otherwise…"

The other Freedom Fighters pondered the question for a moment. Bunnie spoke, "Did he give ya any hints to where he's at?"

"No, he wasn't even really there, he seems to have some kind of illusion technology or something…"

Sally sighed, "We're just not really yet, if we go for it now, it'll never work. Sonic, there's a good chance he'll be back. You need to try to get anything out of him that we can use."

The hedgehog nodded, "I'll try, he's really full of himself."

"Reminds me of a certain someone, you two would be the perfect match!" Fiona responded, electing a chuckle from the rest of the assembled team.

They continued on their trek, meanwhile, plans had already started formulating in all their minds.

 **-X-**

The red smoke outside Tails cell coalesced into a physical form. Tails immediately jumped back, and let out a soft whimper at Infinite's appearance. "You know," The jackal began. "Your friend was surprisingly cooperative with my offer. I believe the end of the war is in sight." Infinite smirked, "Finally, there will be no more pain, no more loss, no more death. A perfect world…"

Tails growled at him from within his cell. His blood soaked fur made him easily recognizable in his darkened cell.

"Someone's feisty today! Or is that just your way of showing appreciation now?"

The fox responded by diving at the jackal behind his bars, only to have his hands phase through the Mobian. Infinite's face suddenly turned from one of amusement, to one of anger.

"I'll take it as the former, do you really want to be beaten again?"

Tails cowered back into a corner of his cell, his eyes wide with fear.

"That's much better," Infinite continued, his face returning to his standard smug expression. "I'm certain you'll appreciate being free soon enough. I'll present you to the Council of Acorn once it's reformed, there, you'll finally serve justice for your crimes."

Infinite vanished in a puff of red smoke. Leaving the fox to his own devices. He carefully inched his way out of the corner of his cell and curled up on his bed. He still tried to think about the positive to keep himself somewhat sane, but it was difficult to do his in current situation. He started to drift of as he did however, he was plagued by another nightmare and immediately was back awake. He caught his breath and laid back down feeling ripples of pain down his body from the fresh injuries from earlier today and from his stomach craving for food.

As he shut his eyes, a thought came to his mind.

 _"Did- Did that wall move?"_

 **Alright guys. That's all for this chapter let me know your thoughts, and if you could please check out the poll on my profile page, that would be amazing! Again, sorry for the long wait, until next time!**


	29. Fractured Plans

**Hello! I'm back again with another chapter! I've got reviews from last time first however!**

 **TheGameNguyener: Thanks for being patient! Tails hasn't been treated too well, regressing heavily back to his basic animalistic instincts due to survival instincts kicking in. There aren't many answers to the predicament Sonic has found himself in, which is certainly going to complicate things. I figured Infinite would be more of a manipulative neutral party. He just wants to end the war.**

 **Dinner: Infinite is determined to make the fox suffer just as much as he has. Rather then suffering though all the emotional trauma, he can instead inflict physical injuries.**

 **Yori Micah: I know it's not necessarily a new idea, but I like to think I've put a few twists and turns to it to make it my own! I've wanted to make Miles much like his normal self, while changing the circumstances of his motivation to modify his personality to better fit his past!**

 **That's it, let's get started!**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **Fractured Plans**_

Sonic bolted awake again, he was panting trying to catch his breath. He'd had another nightmare about Infinite and Tails. He kept trying to shrug it off as nothing more then simply being paranoid but he was legitimately scared for the fox's well being. Infinite had stressed that the kit was alive, but that was all. He also left out how he was being treated, for all Sonic and the other Freedom Fighters knew, he could be dying right now.

He turned over in his sleep, it didn't help much. He had to think of some way to get Tails free from Infinite's clutches without killing Robotnik. To say the task was daunting, was a major understatement. It wasn't that Robotnik wasn't evil, it was just that he knew it was going to have to be solved by the Council of Acorn after the war was over.

The Council made all major judiciary decisions and checked to ensure that the reigning monarchy could perform all of its duties effectively. It did possess the power to rule on all judicial cases, civil or criminal that were of great importance.

Sonic slowly closed his eyes, trying to get some necessary sleep before the morning came. He eventually with some effort, drifted off into a dreamless slumber.

Fiona didn't want to admit it, but she had been having her own restless nights. The small robot companion that slept curled up next to her reminded herself of Tails constantly. She didn't want to say it aloud, but she had developed a liking for the fox. His companionship had grown on her and now, just like everything else in her life, it had been taken from her.

She silently contemplated her thoughts on the matter, Tails was alive, there was a chance. It was something that even she didn't believe after two months of his absence, but it was undeniable.

Tails meanwhile, was busy prowling the perimeter of his cell. The splotches of his fur that were matted with dried blood gave him an almost spotted appearance and they flickered in the small amount of light from down the hallway, where the Jackal Squad currently slept.

Of course, he knew there isn't a way out of his cell. The door could only be opened from down the hall, so he was still stuck here. As he circled the small cell again, he accidentally stepped in a small puddle of blood left over from his most recent beating. He was somewhat disgusted by it, but continued on his way. He stopped at the corner to his room and tore at his shirt again. He had long since removed his clothing, he didn't need it anyways, and had used it almost as a toy that he could tear apart to get his mind off of things. It was long shreds by now, but it still occasionally helped to feel his teeth dig into something.

He eventually curled up on his bed and started to whine, not out of fear, but out of complete, consuming sorrow. The whines got louder as the night progressed. Eventually however, he managed to fall into a deep sleep. His cries silencing all together…

 **-X-**

Sonic's morning went relatively smoothly, the only difference was the nagging thoughts at the back of his head from last night. The one that had come to him apparently while he slept.

 _"What are we going to do with Tails after this is all over?"_ While the question had popped into his head before, it was now a very legitimate challenge. Public opinion was still very likely to be against the former Robotnik, as such, it wasn't going to be easy for him to just live a normal life.

Come to think of it, it was entirely up to the Council of Acorn to settle his fate. There wasn't much he, or the other Freedom Fighters could do about it. Not even Sally, the current heir to the throne, was able to completely override their rulings. They more often then not accepted the crown's wishes however, so it was still a possibility. He just decided to talk about it later and continued on with his morning. The other Freedom Fighters prepared for the day, they had a quick strike on Robotropolis today as the time until an attempted final raid inched closer and closer. The small remaining bit of ground snow had melted overnight, indicating spring had officially began. None of them bothered wearing their heavy winter outfits anymore as it just slowed them down at caused unnecessary strain. Sonic left with the other Freedom Fighters and eventually they arrived at Robotropolis once again. The strike targets were similar every time, so they had minimal difficulty actually reaching and destroying their targets. While on the return trip however, Sonic's entire world darkened as everything around him dissolved into a pure black abyss. Suddenly, he heard a voice.

"Did you forget about our agreement?"

The hedgehog turned around and found himself once again face to face with Infinite. "No, I didn't…" Sonic responded. "But you have to understan-"

"I don't want excuses, excuses are exactly going to save your friend you know…"

"I need to know he's alive, show me him!"

Infinite chuckled but before he could continued, Sonic cut him off.

"And no illusions either, I want to see the real you, and the real Tails."

The jackal froze for a moment, but then calmly responded. "I'm not that gullible hedgehog, you're not just going to trick me out of hiding that easily."

"I'll follow your deal, but you need to prove you can keep your end of it."

"Is there another way I can prove his existence to you?" The jackal questioned.

"Not unless you can tell me something only he would know."

The illusionist simply grinned, "Alright, well, I'll let you know that pulling his mind apart has lead to some extraordinary results. But, to save the time, I'll share just one with you."

He paused for a moment, "He knows that he'll never, be one of you."

Sonic's facial expression betrayed him as he instinctively had a bit of a look of shock pass his face. Infinite continued, "He knows he'll never be accepted, no matter how hard he tries, he'll never truly belong. You know it's true don't you?"

"You're wrong."

"What reason would I possibly have to lie?"

He had a point, "He belongs with us, we're his friends!"

"You're not serious are you? You really think you could be friends with someone like him!?"

"Tails isn't like Robotnik."

The jackal laughed aloud. "Don't be ridiculous! A child of his age was influenced by Robotnik in more ways then you think! Of cour-"

Infinite was abruptly cut off by, what appeared to Sonic, as a strong right hook from an invisible assailant. The black void around him crumbled to pieces as the illusion broke. He found he was still in the forest, however the other Freedom Fighters had moved away from where they were when the visions started and were instead gathered around a figure at the base of a tree. The figure was Infinite, whom was obviously injured.

Sally noticed the hedgehog's confused expression and offered a quick explanation. "As soon as you started staring off into space was all had a hunch as to what was up. We found this guy hiding in the tree tops here, he had this with him."

Sally handed Sonic a spherical gemstone, its color matched that of the illusionary smoke Infinite normally vanished in, Sonic set it down and growled slightly under his breath as he knelt down to the jackal.

"Now that we're on the same terms here, where are you hiding Tails?"

Despite being in obvious pain, the jackal smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know? Well then, let's just say we meet back here tomorrow and we can further discuss this."

Sonic pinned the jackal down against the tree. Before he could so anything too rash however, Sally spoke up.

"Sonic, remember this isn't Robotnik, take it easy. As much as I want answers as well."

The hedgehog backed off slightly, but kept relatively close to the jackal. Fiona continued the line of questioning. "Why should we trust you? Why shouldn't we just force you to tell us right now?"

"Because without me, you'll never find your fox friend. You think I don't have contingencies if something were to happen to me? If I don't return, your friend will die."

Once again, Infinite had found a way to have the Freedom Fighters wrapped around his fingers. This time however, he was determined to show them that the only way they could win, was by doing what he said.

"Fine, I'll take you up on your little deal, here tomorrow." Sonic growled.

"If you'll excuse me," Infinite remarked, getting to his feet and grabbing the spherical ruby. "I'd best be getting back." With the completion of the sentence, the jackal vanished.

The Freedom Fighters all felt mixed emotions of rage and confusion as they returned to base. But there was a question preying on all their minds.

 _"What does Infinite want?"_

 **-X-**

Infinite materialized outside of Tails cage, ready for another round of illusionary punishment. While the fox's reactions had become less and less satisfying over time, it was still pleasant to torment him. He knew revenge would feel incredible, but he never expected it to be this good.

The kitsune in the cell recoiled back as he appeared, the splotches of blood mated fur had now dried from his beating this morning. A low growl escaped the kit's mouth.

Infinite simply forced his illusions onto the fox, but found they were suddenly having difficulty taking hold. Tails was resisting it, and heavily at that. This had never happened, and the jackal was puzzled by the new development.

"You think you're so clever aren't you?" He began, "I'll figure out what you're up to then, you'll be sorry!"

He stormed off, leaving Tails alone to himself. When Infinite had tried to use his illusions on him, had hadn't been overwhelmed like usual. Instead however, he found that his fingertips had a light tingling sensation, and that they had gained a small amount of crimson tint, which quickly faded once Infinite left. Not being completely sound of mind, he chalked it up to being some kind of freak bloodstain and was rather glad he had somehow managed to avoid another round of mental agony. He found himself actually smiling for the first time in months.

He quickly though found that he was dreading when Infinite returned. He was more than likely going to be punished for somehow avoiding his illusions, for now however, he settled into a nice relaxed slumber. Something he hadn't been able to do for a long while.

 **Alright guys, that's it for this time! It's a bit shorter then usual but it's going to properly set up the next two or three chapters, let me know your thoughts in a review and if you have the time, feel free to fill out the poll on my profile! Until next time!**


	30. 5093

**Hello! I've just got one thing to say beforehand, we've hit thirty chapters! Additionally, we've passed the 50k word mark! I never thought we'd get this far, and I'd really like to thank everyone who's reviewed, followed, favorited, and read this story! I've got the reviews, let's not delay this anymore!**

 **TheGameNguyener: Generally, he's a pretty chill character, but he's more than capable of being dead serious if he needs to or if his friends are threatened. I've been trying to work more on descriptions and not completely overloading on dialogue, obviously I'm not cutting it out entirely, but skimming it down a bit!**

 **Dinner: They're certainly trying to find their way out of the situation!**

 **Now, for thirty chapters, I think it's about time I introduced you all to someone…**

 **Subject** **#̶4̶2̶6̶1̶**

 _ **#5093**_

The first thing he remembered feeling, was weightlessness. His young eyes opened, and he took in his surroundings. He was in a laboratory, currently suspended in an incubation tube of some sort. He noticed the small quills that formed his outer covering were a deep black. Accessing his memories, he found information on most basic concepts, like colors. There was one however that stood out to him, his name was Shadow. His designation was #5093, and he was the third member of Project: Synthesis. While he did now have an idea of who he was, it was the question of why he was here. As he went to think about it, a figure entered the laboratory. While it was difficult to make out his exact features, he noticed the rather rotund man seemed to have an aura of safety around him.

It was almost like he was his father…

Shadow trusted the strange man and felt as the incubation tube he was suspended in slowly began to empty out and he began to feel the weight of his own body. He struggled to keep upright as his leg muscles weren't yet used to carrying him around. The man introduced himself as Ivo Robotnik, explained that he had created him. Ivo seemed enthusiastic, almost as if all his problems were coming to an end.

 **-X-**

During the two months he had been with the Empire, Shadow had learned a lot. He learned about his connection to Chaos Energy and his ability to tap into its power. He learned they were fighting for the creation of a perfect world, one that everything could live in peace. He had learned about the Resistance, including Miles, his traitorous brother. He hadn't ever fought them however, but that was about to change.

With the increase in the amount and the recklessness of the Resistance in their attacks, they had been able to get an idea of where they could better position patrols to find their location. They now had a lead, they had seen the conversation between Sonic and Infinite the other day, and while it wasn't of much use, it did give them a precise time and location that Sonic would be at.

Shadow intended to use this to his advantage. Meanwhile, Robotnik was busy reveling in his new creation. "This time, it'll be better."

"What makes you think that sir?" Shard's electronic voice responded.

"It's simple really, I've just made it so he has utmost loyalty to me, unlike Miles, he's entirely driven to impress me."

"Don't you think it's a bit early to be sending him out? Miles was at least in Robotropolis for three years, and he didn't even face the Resistance during that time!"

"Nonsense, and besides Miles didn't have his growth accelerated as much plus, he didn't have connection to Chaos Energy like Shadow does!"

Shard wished he could roll his eyes right now, _"I believe I remember you saying something similar between Sonia and Miles and look how that turned out."_ He decided to keep the thought to himself however.

Robotnik summoned Shadow and about a minute or so later he arrived.

"You called?"

"Shadow, you know about the meeting between Sonic and that jackal?"

The ebony hedgehog nodded and Robotnik continued, "Change of plans, don't kill Sonic on sight, in fact, make sure you stay concealed. You're going to follow him back to their headquarters. Once we have their precise location, we'll charge in and eliminate them for good!"

Shadow grinned at the instructions, "Understood." He exited and returned to prepare himself for his espionage mission, adjusting the communicator present over his head. As Shadow had had his age accelerated, bright red streaks appeared in his quills running down his body, this wasn't a normal occurrence, it was caused by the injection of the growth serum. He prepared his items, including a bright red gemstone, a Chaos Emerald.

Shadow had always felt a special connection to the stone, Robotnik had told him it was because of his connection to Chaos Energy, which had been given to him since his creation. The Emerald was a reservoir for endless energy just waiting to be unleashed.

He left the city's limits, the meeting time was approaching, and he wasn't about to miss it.

 **-X-**

Sonic arrived at the small clearing that he had encountered Infinite in the other day as he waited impatiently, he heard the familiar voice speak.

"Didn't think you'd actually be here," Infinite began, shimmering into existence in the center of the clearing.

"Before you go any further," Sonic responded. "I need to make sure you're actually here."

The jackal extended his arms out to the side as Sonic approached, he was given a firm at on the back by the hedgehog, nothing but cold solid flesh. With the confirmation, Sonic seemed to relax a bit.

"Good to know this isn't some illusion."

"Now to get onto our discussion." Infinite responded, "Do you remember the terms of our little agreement."

"You have to understand, we're trying all we can but it's simply not enough time!"

"I'm afraid it won't be enough time for your friend to last now will it? I don't care how it gets done, only that you end this."

Sonic sighed, "Give us at least a week, we might be able to do it by then…"

The jackal grinned at the time frame. "One week, I think that's reasonable, I know you're stalling hedgehog to try and figure a way out of this. But I assure you there's nothing you can do about it."

"I've realized that, just keep Tails alive for me."

Unbeknownst to the two of them, a third set of eyes watched the exchange. Shadow peered out of the brush, his color allowing him to melt into the darkness. He had quite a few questions concerning the background information on why the two of them were here, but he could ask about it later. For now, his objective was to locate Knothole, nothing else.

"He's alive for now, but he won't be for much longer if you keep stalling." Of course, Infinite knew this was false, he had no intentions of killing the fox, Sonic didn't know that however.

"We won't, hopefully it'll be done soon."

"For the sake of your friend, I hope so…" The jackal turned and walked away, returning to the compound that he called home, as he did, he cast illusions on himself and vanished into thin air.

Sonic looked dejected and eventually turned and ran off, Shadow quickly grasped the red gemstone he had brought with him and exclaimed "Chaos Control!" Instantly, time slowed down to a crawl and he casually walked in the direction of the speedster. While he normally preferred teleportation, he just needed to slow down time, it didn't waste as much energy or was nowhere near as easy to detect. As he approached, he hid in the nearby bushes to insure he wasn't spotted. He released the built-up energy and Sonic quickly returned to normal speed. He stopped, and looked back behind him, seemingly confused as to something before looking around and pulling out a communicator.

"You got anything Rotor?" The azure hedgehog asked, almost instantly, a voice was heard on the other end, just loud enough for Shadow to hear.

"I can't believe it but yes, it seems like you actually got it on him!"

"It wasn't too hard, I just acted like I needed to know if it was the real him or not. Didn't suspect a thing!"

"Sally's going to be so happy that this worked, I mean, the tracker was her idea."

"That I executed flawle-" Sonic's sentence was cut short by the sound of the bush next to him rustling. Shadow had been leaning forward to hear better when he had broken a branch that he assumed was completely stable. The ebony hedgehog instinctively grabbed the bright red gemstone and teleported away, not wanting to risk being seen.

Sonic peered around in the foliage for a bit, but eventually decided to brush it off.

"Sorry about that Rotor, thought I heard something for a bit there."

"Well get back here as soon as you can so we can start to think up a plan."

Sonic acknowledged the request and dashed off toward Knothole, unknown to the other being who had witnessed the entire thing.

 **-X-**

To say Shadow had a rough landing, would be underselling it, not being able to completely focus on his location, he instead simply just teleported to the first location he thought of, which just so happened to be the genetics lab. He landed back first on the lab table, knocking over dozens of smaller scientific instruments. It also hurt quite a bit, but Shadow quickly jumped back to his feet.

He traveled back to the throne room and reported to Robotnik, who wasn't pleased with his performance.

"We could have had them!" He exclaimed, "Why did you decide to leave!?"

"I figured being discovered was going to be incredibly detrimental to our cause, I made a decision and I stick by it."

"Well, I don't! You serve me, remember!?"

Shadow internally sighed, "Yes, I'm sorry sir."

Robotnik seemed pleased with the apology, "Good, and don't do it again!"

Shadow took this as his dismissal and left the throne room. As he returned to his quarters, he instead decided he would do some more research on Project: Synthesis, specifically, on the other two members. He knew he was the third successful creation, but he had only basic info on the other two.

He first accessed the information on Sonia, it included some images of her when she was very young. There was no info on her older self however, after scanning though, he quickly learned it was because she died rather early on. After completing the look though on the small amount of available information, he changed over to Miles' profile. It contained information about his time in the Empire, and his eventual turn to a traitor.

When reviewing the information, something stuck out to him, several times it was mentioned that Miles proved somewhat worthless and was more of a hassle rather than an actual asset. Shadow puzzled over this, evaluating his own performance against Miles'. He concluded that he was more useful due to his abilities to control Chaos Energy, and as a result, irreplaceable within their ranks. Still, there was the nagging though at the back of his mind that he could end up like the fox, but he wouldn't allow that to happen. Robotnik had created and cared for him, it was the least he could do to repay him.

Plus, he already knew what they were fighting for. Their goal was a perfect world, one without pain, death, or suffering. Robotnik was willing to go to any lengths to have his dream a reality, and so, he would do the same...

 **Alright everyone, that's all for now! Let me know what you thought in a review, and if you have the time, feel free to fill out the poll on my profile. Until next time!**


	31. Savior

**Alright everyone, time for another chapter!**

 **Dinner: Shadow is certainly a new face, and he's more than happy to serve the Empire.**

 **Obliviblur: Thanks for the string of reviews! I'm happy that you got to read some of the story and that you're enjoying it!**

 **That's all, let's get to it!**

 **Subject #4261**

 **Savior**

The Freedom Fighters prepared what equipment they had, while they now knew where Infinite was keeping Tails, they were still going in completely blind to any possible defenses. The tracker hadn't been disabled yet, meaning there was a good chance their plan hadn't been discovered. It would have to stay that way, otherwise, they would know they were coming and they would lose a massive advantage that they otherwise would make use of.

They all understood the risks they were taking, but even then they all agreed to the mission. They packed and left toward the location of the signal, as they traveled, Sonic started to have a thought arise in his head, one that he didn't want to have. _"Tails shouldn't be doing this…"_

It's not that he couldn't, but he hated seeing his friends get hurt, and Tails was one of them. He decided to push the thought off for now and he'd deal with it later, now, he needed to focus.

Infinite meanwhile, was busy giving another session of illusionary punishment to Tails. He'd found that his ability to link to Tails' mind was becoming more and more difficult, and his illusions frequently broke. After some investigation, he discovered it was because Tails was subconsciously manipulating Chaos Energy to protect himself. Manipulation of Chaos Energy manifested differently in everybody, some, like himself, could easily tap into its power. Others however, could only use it when severely threatened, like in Tails' case, even then it wasn't very potent, but it was enough to disrupt the normal flow of it slightly.

He tried to force a full connection though and the kitsune winced, but still managed to hold it off for now. Holding off the illusionary barrage did a number on Tails physically, he was exhausted, but was unable to rest for fear of dropping his guard. He had long run out of Chaos Energy near him to manipulate and was now rationing his own energy to keep going. Doing this had it's consequences however, his fur color had dulled significantly, leaving it a muted orange, save for the splotches of blood. His irises had also started to appear almost completely lifeless and dull. Infinite ceased his assault and almost instantly the fox fell to his knees, heavy breaths were audible from inside the cell.

Infinite growled, "You test my patience!" He angrily exclaimed. "Answer me you coward!"

The fox, with his immense amounts of psychological damage, didn't say anything in response. He wasn't even sure he fully understood what was being said to him. He elected to glare at the jackal, deciding to take a more passive approach. The action seemed to enrage him only further however as Infinite summoned another Jackal Squad member and entered the cell himself. Tails recoiled back out of terror, but before anything could be done, he heard blaster fire. Infinite looked away for a moment and that's all Tails needed. He dove at the jackal and sunk his fangs into his arm, drawing blood.

Infinite slammed the fox against the wall, throwing him off and applying pressure to the newly opened wound, wincing as he did. He exited the cell to deal with the new development and to scold whoever had discharged that blaster shot, sealing the cell behind him.

Tails was dazed by the impact against the wall, his vision swam and the back of his head felt sore. He slowly stumbled to his feet and looked down the hallway, he could hear commotion at the end of it. He simply decided to wait it out, there wasn't much he could do anyways.

The Freedom Fighters were meanwhile, causing mayhem. They had managed to get the drop on several Jackal Squad members, they had notably been simply been incapacitating their targets. Sally had brought along a tranquilizer pistol that she had been putting to good use against the defenders.

Infinite dashed around the corner in what was seemingly a fit of rage and did a double take at the appearance of the Freedom Fighters. He quickly channeled the Chaos Energy contained in the Phantom Ruby and vanished. Sonic did notice his disappearance out of the corner of his vision and alerted the others, just in time for their vision to be completely removed and replaced by darkness.

Unable to see, but now having the numbers advantage, the group decided to stick together, forming a tight circle so they couldn't be surrounded. The thick darkness being projected into their vision was so consuming, that they weren't even able to see more than a few inches in front of them. Bunnie, rather then waiting for Infinite to attack, began to spray wildly into the black, hoping that it would possibly connect. After a moment, a cry rung out from the darkness and Sonic instantly charged its location. Pinning the jackal to the ground and causing the illusion across the team to disperse.

"You guys get Tails, I'll deal with him!"

Everybody else didn't have to be told twice as they continued down a nearby hallway. Sonic decided to have a much more personal chat with Infinite.

"What do you want!? What does any of this accomplish!?"

"Revenge, you wouldn't understand, it's not possible for you to understand! Robotnik and him took everything from me! From all of us! Isn't it only fair that we have some revenge!?"

One thing Sonic quickly noted was the large bloody mark on Infinite's arm, something that hadn't been there prior, he simply shrugged it off and continued with the conversation. "Look, I know you're mad we all are, but we need to be on the same side here! Don't ever hurt my friends again, got it?"

The remainder of the Freedom Fighters returned, Bunnie had a mass of bloody orange fur draped over her shoulder. Sally instantly had her leave the compound and return to Knothole to deal with Tails' wounds. She joined Sonic with his interrogation.

"What did you do to him?" Sally questioned, "He tried to attack us! I had to tranquilize him! Explain yourself!"

"What can I say? It's about revenge…"

Sonic simply slugged the jackal so hard across the face he instantly blacked out, pure rage consumed his thoughts for a moment but he quickly let it go. Sally and him returned back to Knothole, leaving Infinite where he lay.

 **-X-**

Tails slowly awoke to light directly in his face. He felt groggy, and he wasn't sure why. Checking over himself, his wounds had all been bandaged, and the blood on his fur was gone. As he preformed a check over on himself, Sonic entered the room. Tails instantly jumped back in alarm and shielded himself with his namesakes.

"What did they do…" He heard Sonic mumble under his breath. The hedgehog slowly approached and as he did Tails felt the beginnings of a panic attack setting in. He started hyperventilating, and his heart rate increased drastically. Sonic flinched back and had small tear droplets appear in the corner of his eyes.

"Tails, do you even recognize me?" He asked. The fox had no response, he didn't even acknowledge the question. His mind still was convinced from the torture he had been through that it was all still just an illusion, and talking would give Infinite even more to work with against him.

Sonic left Infirmary and flopped down onto his bed, holding back tears. "Nicole, what's wrong with him!?"

"We're not certain, but a combination of psychological stress, mental overload, and paranoia all are factors. He should improve with time, but it's not going to be instantaneous."

Fiona entered Tails' room in the infirmary, it was decided that it would be mostly Sonic and Fiona he would interact with because of his personal connection to the two of them. She brought him a bit of food, the malnourishment definitely took its toll on the other fox as he had lost a decent bit of weight. He instinctively flinched but then caught the sight of food in Fiona's hands. He slowly but gently relaxed, but would instantly tense up again every time she took a step toward him. It was a tedious process, but eventually, she set the food down on the end of his bed and stepped back.

Tails eyed the food, then her, and slowly leaned over and grabbed a piece of food in his mouth. After confirming that Fiona was not currently a threat to him, he tore into the remained of his food almost instantly devouring it.

"You really liked that didn't you?"

The kitsune had no response, but his expression and demeanor did improve slightly. Fiona decided she would try and push her luck on getting him to speak. He hadn't spoken since being returned from Infinite's custody.

"Tails, do you know what I'm saying?"

Again, no response.

Fiona gently approached him and the kit let out a loud growl in response. Fiona took this as a sign that things weren't going to go as she had envisioned it and backed off for now.

She left the fox to his own devices, returning to the main living quarters. She was immediately grabbed by Sally. "Did he take it?"

"Yeah, he ate it alright, he still doesn't seem to know what we're saying to him."

"Nicole is going over data on his mental activity now, we'll know more about it soon enough. Being alone like that for two months will do things to you."

"Actually Sally," The robotic voice replied. "I've completed my scan of not only his mental activities, but also of the information acquired during his rescue."

"What do you have?"

"Tails was kept in essentially solitary confinement for the span of the two months. The only visitor he saw with any regularity was Infinite, the jackal Sonic fought. He was psychologically attacked several times a day by illusions, and beaten physically. He was also starved during his time incarcerated. Mental activities show that he's regressed back to his animalistic instincts somewhat, but his knowledge and personality are still there. They've just been repressed for the time being. Jogging his memory may prove useful it getting him to recover quickly."

"Well, that certainly explains the blood…" Fiona muttered, she had been there when Tails had been rescued, she had seen him almost attack Sally and had noticed his blood speckled fur. The image sickened her even now.

"What's with the fur color?" Sally asked, "Why's it not as bright as it used to be?"

"Tails' levels of natural Chaos Energy are incredibly low, my speculation is that he somehow managed to utilize it in an attempt to protect himself, to the detriment of his own well being. It should automatically correct itself with enough rest and a proper diet."

Sally sighed, "That's a relief. Thanks Nicole!"

The room was silent for a minute, until Sonic entered from a side room. It was obvious he had been crying. Fiona was the first to respond.

"Sonic, I know what you're thinking, but he'll be alright, he just needs ti-"

"How do you know that!? How do you know that this isn't going to scar him for life!? How do you know he's going to be the same as he always was!?"

Fiona was a bit stunned but Sonic continued, "This is my fault… I never should have pulled him into this, I-"

"Sonic," Sally responded. "He knew what he was getting himself into and he still accepted. He's still Robotnik's son, he can take it."

"He shouldn't have to…" Sonic responded, "I'm going to remove Tails from the team, and I hope you'll all agree."

"Sonic, you can't just-"

"So you'd rather see him hurt himself even more then!? Hasn't he been abused enough by Robotnik!? Do you want him to not have a normal life!? I pulled him into this and I'm pulling him out!"

As much as Sally wanted to talk some sense into him, he did make a good point. "Alright, I guess it's up to you. I'm not going to stop you, if you want him gone, then you can."

With that response, the princess left the room, leaving only Fiona and Sonic. Fiona picked up where Sally had left off. "You better change you mind about this, Tails is never going to forgive you."

"I know, but it's to protect him, I can't watch him get hurt any more."

"Sonic, if you really don't want to hurt him, you'll let him stay…"

With that, Fiona also retired to her quarters, leaving Sonic alone to his thoughts…

 **Alright guys, that's it for today! Let me know your thoughts in a review and following you enjoyed to be given updates! Until next time!**


	32. Love in the Air

**Hello everyone! It's time for another chapter! But, I've got a set of reviews from last time!**

 **TheGameNguyener: Tails has officially lost his marbles, but he's back in a safe environment, which is a plus. Sonic is rather distressed about his condition and is more than likely very much protective of him in his current state. What he does about it however is still up for debate…**

 **Sonic Vs Evil: As of now, they're just friends brought together for the greater good. It's in Sonic's nature to be protective of all his friends, and Tails is no different. Just look at his and Tails' relationship in the games and comics!**

 **Obliviblur: Nice to see you're getting caught up, thanks for giving the story a look! Happy to see you enjoy it!**

 **Let's get started!**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **Love in the Air**_

As much as Sonic didn't want to admit it, Fiona was right… Removing Tails would simply push him even further over the edge, but he still wasn't going to let him get hurt. He was having quite a conundrum with what to do about it, on one hand, there was Tails' safety and removal from the team. On the other, was allowing him to stay and potentially putting himself into more danger. Unsure of what to do, he decided to wait until he was in better shape to bring up the conversation with him. He planned on sat least trying to get him to recognize everybody and get back to his old self before anything too rash… He couldn't help but notice the animalistic traits that Tails had been exhibiting, and he hoped that it would eventually get better…

Most Mobians still possessed their animalistic instincts, but they intentionally set them aside for the betterment of society and others. Seeing them manifesting in full force with Tails scared him, and he was rather concerned with how it was all going to play out in the long run…

 **-X-**

Tails mental state had improved slightly over the past four days, he at least was starting to trust the other Freedom Fighters, but it wasn't immediately obvious that his entire old self was back. He still hadn't spoken a word since he had returned, and he had made little attempt to communicate with them. Additionally, the bandages that still provided as evidence for the injuries he had sustained still remained, and Tails wouldn't let them close enough to check them.

Sonic and Fiona were still the only ones that had any major contact with Tails. The fox still whined throughout the night, and would only stop so long as Fiona was in the room with him. The assumption was because of the fact that they shared a species, and so he was more trusting of Fiona than everybody else.

Sonic decided he was going to try and reach the fox again, maybe he could help him out and jog his memory.

"Tails, buddy? Do you recognize me?"

The fox still looked very confused to his surroundings, worse so, he looked paranoid. He continuously scanned the room, checking over his shoulder for anything that might hurt him. There was no response from him.

"Sonic, let me try." Fiona commented. The hedgehog stepped out of the room to give the two of them some privacy.

"Tails, do you know who I am?"

While the fox looked like he hadn't even heard her question, his ears did perk up at her words.

She reached out to him and the kitsune flinched back, his eyes widening in fear as he tried to get away.

"Tails, I'm not going to hurt you. You're safe now, I don't know what Infinite did to you, but we won't let it happen again."

Still no response, but he did relax slightly.

"That's better. Can you talk?"

The kit drew in a breath, but nothing else occurred.

"It's alright, we'll just keep it like this. Is that ok?"

While Tails didn't speak, his mind was currently having a panic attack. _"None of this is real! It's just another of Infinite's illusions! He's just going to hurt you more!"_

Fiona gently reached out toward his injured leg that currently dangled off of the cot Tails was on. The fox jumped back again.

"We want to help you, I'm just going to look at it." Tails relaxed slightly, but was obviously still on edge.

The injuries didn't look too bad. They had healed over significantly since his time with Infinite. Though, it wasn't his leg that they were worried about, but she didn't think he'd be willing to let her have a look at his back considering what had occurred. She released his leg and tightened the bandage once again.

"You're doing really good Tails, has anything come back to you yet?"

To Fiona's surprise, the kit shook his head, giving an answer to her question. The kit paused for a moment however, and then nodded his head up and down.

"What is it?"

Tails' mind screamed at him inside. _"Don't tell her! You'll only be giving Infinite more ways to hurt you!"_ However, he felt safe for some reason, almost as if he somehow knew the other fox that was talking to him.

"I- I'm not sure w- what it is…" The kitsune replied, a very shaky tone consumed his voice.

"Well, can you describe it for me?" Fiona asked, still stunned at his reply, he could still speak, and it appeared part of his memory had returned to him.

"Pain… L- Lots of pain…"

"How long ago do you think?" While the description did have Fiona concerned, she would have to press it, as it was the only lead they had.

"I- It's pretty new, I think…"

"I'm sorry if this is a bit, sensitive… Was it Infinite?"

The mention of the jackal caused Tails to flinch back, he growled at Fiona, whom was surprised at his sudden angry outburst.

"Alright… Don't talk about him. How about I go get you some food? You look like you're starving."

Tails didn't get any closer to Fiona, but nodded his head. She left, while she was gone however, Tails suddenly had a splitting headache, another set of memories surfaced. It wasn't much, random images that didn't go together. The only cohesive thing between all of them was a man, Tails felt he knew him somehow…

Suddenly, it clicked in his mind, this was Robotnik, his father. He shuddered as the memories of his abuse and beatings came back to him for a moment, he could feel the searing hot pain of blaster bolts on his back, along with the strong impact of Robotnik's strikes, berating him for yet another failure. Invisible waves of agony rippled through him as his mind was consumed by the knowledge that he would always be a disgrace…

He had other memories too, including one of being suddenly attacked by the fox that had just been in the room with him. Almost instantly as this memory faded however, it was replaced by another happier memory, ones that showed himself and the vixen that had just been with him as friends…

Suddenly, he wasn't sure what to think about her, but she seemed nice enough, but there was always this feeling that accompanied her presence, he decided that he would talk to her about it…

Fiona meanwhile, explained the development to Sally and Sonic, whom encouraged her to try and get him to talk more and to jog his memory. She agreed and returned with Tails' food, which he quickly began to eat. After he was finished, he sheepishly began his question. "F- Fiona…"

"Yes Tails?"

"I h- have a question…"

"What is it?"

"Well, its j- just…"

"You can tell me Tails, I'm not going to hurt you."

The kit paused for a moment but continued, starting to nervously fidget with the tip of one of his tails. "Every time you're with me I- I get this feeling, like there's b- butterflies in my stomach… I'm not s- sure what it means…"

Fiona inwardly smiled, "That feeling's called love Tails. I get the same thing when I'm with you…"

Tails was confused, he was having some difficulty remembering. "What's love?"

Fiona was a bit taken back by the question, but she decided to entertain his thought. "Well, it's when you like somebody so much, that you'd be willing to do everything for them…"

Inside however, Fiona was freaking out. _"Did Tails always feel this way? Did he just never have the courage to tell me?"_ The truth was, that she had found herself developing some feelings for Tails as well, despite the fact that she knew who Tails was in his past. She felt like she had gotten over it and had started to see him for who he really was.

"I- I never thought about it like that… Fiona, do- do you love me?"

"I think I do Tails… Have you always felt like this?"

"I… I have, while I- I was with Infinite, he let me keep my pistols with me… T- There were several times when I debated on… Debated on killing myself, I wanted it all to stop… But every time I thought of you and Sonic, I just couldn't… So, yes, I've always felt this way… I had some more memories come back, including ones of you, and in all of them there's that nervous feeling…"

Tails had realized that he had absentmindedly been leaning closer and closer to Fiona and the two locked eyes with each other for a moment. Instantly, they both looked away from each other, blushing though, Tails' was more noticeable due to his lighter fur.

Fiona noticed this and pulled the kitsune into a hug, making him blush even more then before, they both started laughing and eventually, as their laughter died out. The two looked into each other's eyes, and silently, kissed.

For Tails, dozens of memories of their time together rushed back to him. Although it was overwhelming, it was something he could set off for the moment. As of now, he just wanted to experience truly being loved for the first time.

For Fiona, time stopped, she for one reason or another, felt like this was something that she wanted. She wanted this, Tails had been incredibly kind to her since joining the Freedom Fighters. They both felt like they had a lot to offer each other.

The two separated, and almost instantly, Tails spoke. "W- Wow… Did that really just…"

"I think it did, Tails, I can tell you've always felt like this, you've always been kind to me, even when I wasn't treating you the same."

"I'm not perfect Fiona, but, I'd like to thank you for giving me a chance. T- Thank you for being my friend."

Tails pulled her into a hug, and she quickly returned the gesture. It had seemed like Tails had rapidly improved for a moment because of the positive reception, his mind was much more clear, and he wasn't constantly assuming that the whole thing was a very powerful illusion, he had felt that kiss. This was all real, and he couldn't be happier…

The Fiona left Tails to himself and exited back into the hallway, Sonic was waiting. "So how'd it go?"

She blushed, although it wasn't visible under her fur. "Good…"

 **Alright guys, that's it for today, let me know your thoughts on the chapter and the fic as a whole! Until next time!**


	33. Fractures

**Hey guys! I'm here with another chapter, let's get going!**

 **Obliviblur: Tails and Fiona's relationship has been developing since their introduction, but now it's come to a head!**

 **TheGameNguyener: The character list has changed a few times throughout the story, that's probably the most recent development and I've been changing it as we go because I wanted to avoid spoilers from the outset! Sonic definitely has his opinions and expect to see some of them this chapter!**

 **Dinner: I think they make a rather cute couple!**

 **Alright, let's get going!**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **Fractures**_

Tails' condition improved greatly over the past bit, he was much more trusting of the other Freedom Fighters, he even acknowledged that he knew he wasn't seeing illusions any more. He would still instinctively flinch when around others, but it was getting better.

Tails especially trusted Fiona, with whom he had developed a close relationship with. He seemed completely like his old self when she was around and it was very noticeable. Tails was considered healthy enough to continue helping the Freedom Fighters, though he was more easily startled then in the past. He condition was still closely monitored by Sonic and Bunnie, whom fretted over every detail of his wellbeing.

He did still get a sizable amount of rest however, being unable to sleep properly for two months had left him rather sleep deprived. As such, he was commonly found in his room fast asleep. Sonic managed to catch him during one of his moments awake and pulled the fox aside.

"Tails, I've been meaning to ask you… Are you ever scared of what Robotnik could do to you?"

"Not really, I mean, if he wants to kill me then, I guess I don't have much of a choice to fight."

"It scares me bud, I mean, I'm just scared you're not going to get to do everything, that you're going to end up like Elias."

Tails looked at him, a hint of confusion in his expression, "Who's Elias?"

Sonic sighed, "Elias was Sally's brother, and the original heir to the throne. He joined our cause with Antoine shortly after the invasion of Robotropolis, you remind him of me sometimes, he was very kind. Eventually, when we tried one of these raids that we thought was going to end the war once and for all… We got too confident, Elias stayed behind to protect our escape, but, we never saw him again…"

"I- I'm sorry Sonic I-"

"Tails, I don't want the same thing to happen to you." Sonic responded, cutting the kitsune off. "Which, that's why you're being removed from the Freedom Fighters…"

With that sentence, Tails' world shattered, "What?"

"You can't do this any more Tails, I can't see you get hurt again!"

Tails' feeling of shock quickly began to turn into ones of pure anger and rage. "It's because you don't trust me, huh!?"

"It- It's not that-"

"It's because I'm still 'Miles Robotnik' to you!? Is that it!?"

"Tails no-"

Tears started to well up in the corners of the kitsune's eyes. "I trusted you! This is how you repay me! By taking me out of the greatest thing to ever happen in my life!?"

"I don't hate you, I just don't want to see you get hurt!"

The kit's sniffles were the only noise that pierced the silence that followed, the kit returned to his room and started to gather his things. Sonic followed behind him.

"Leave me alone…" Tails responded, Sonic obeyed his request and left the kitsune to his own. Tails instantly broke down, balling his eyes out and eventually, curled up in a protective ball on his cot. K.I.T. joined him as he allowed himself to be consumed by his own sorrows.

After a while, Fiona entered and found the kitsune sobbing to himself on his bed, she sat down on the cot next to him and gently stroked his fur. It did calm him down a bit, but not by much. He was still notably distressed by the new revelation.

"F- Fiona…"

"Yes Tails?"

"Does Sonic really want me gone?"

"I don't think he wants you gone, but he doesn't want to see you get hurt either. There's not a lot he can do so he probably thinks this is the best way to protect you."

"I don't want to leave… I- I want to stay here…"

"I'll talk to him," As she went to leave. Tails interrupted her.

"Fiona, tell him I'm sorry for getting mad at him earlier, and, if he wants me to leave… I'll do it…"

"Alright Tails."

 **-X-**

Sonic naturally, felt guilty. He hadn't wanted to hurt his feelings, but he knew it was more than likely to happen nonetheless. He just hadn't expected it to be that bad. He could practically feel the guilt that came with his announcement and he really didn't want to remove him, but it seemed like there wasn't much of a choice.

Fiona stepped up to him and before he could say anything, she had already started speaking. "Tails says he's sorry, he shouldn't have yelled at you."

Sonic was a bit surprised, "Is he still in your room?"

"Yeah, but, I'm not sure if he wants to see you right now… It probably wouldn't be the worst idea though…"

Sonic made his way to Fiona and Tails' shared room and slowly opened the door. He found Tails balled up on his cot, it obvious he had been crying, his eyes were bloodshot and his fur on his face was still damp.

"Tails?" Sonic asked, "Is it alright if I come in?"

"Yeah…" The fox managed to say though sniffles. The hedgehog entered and sat himself next to Tails.

"Hey bud, I'm sorry, I just don't want to see you get hurt again…"

"I'm sorry for snapping at you… If you really want me to leave, I'll go…"

"I don't bud, I'm not really sure what I even want, cause I don't want you to get hurt or even killed, but I don't want to remove you from the team… Do you see where I'm coming from?"

"Kind of…"

"Tails, I'm gonna tell you something. You're probably one of my best friends, honestly, you're kind of like family to me. I just don't want to lose my family again…"

Tails looked up at him, "What happened?"

"Robotnik, that's what happened, you weren't around yet so it's not your fault, it was right as the war started. Robotnik had no mercy during those first few hours when he invaded the capital."

"I'm sorry, if I could bring them back I would…" Tails responded.

"I know you would certainly try, but I've accepted they're gone, the only thing I can do now is to try and protect my family now, and that includes you."

Tails couldn't help but smile slightly, knowing that Sonic didn't hate him was comforting.

"Is there anyway I could stay?"

Sonic wanted to tell him no, but he was now rather conflicted over the whole thing, on one hand, he could say no, but it would completely shatter Tails' heart and trust in him.

He could also say yes, but that risked Tails being hurt or killed, which was something he would never forgive himself for, especially knowing what the fox had put up with in his past with Robotnik. Well, what he suspected anyways…

"Well, promise me you'll be careful, ok?"

"I promise, I'll be careful."

"Thanks Tails…"

Nothing was said between the two of them, until Sonic spoke about a minute later. "Tails, I'm sorry if is this too personal, but what did Robotnik do to you? Like, how bad was it?"

Tails' expression visibly changed to one of contemplation, before he finally spoke. "There was a reason I was always so dedicated to stopping you… Whenever you guys carried out a successful raid, I would be punished. At first it wasn't much, some choice words, a slap across the face… Eventually though, it turned into full on beatings. It really came to a head with the Death Egg, it's when I got the most visible scars…"

"Why did you stay?"

"Robotnik was really all I ever knew, the idea of running away seemed so foreign that I never really considered it… I wish I had, I wish I left it all behind me…"

The fox was visibly distressed by the memories, Sonic chalked it up to not only Robotnik's abuse, but his imprisonment with Infinite as well. Tails choked back tears as he spoke.

"T- That's why I love being here, you guys aren't abusive, you all don't yell at me when I do something wrong… You're nice, encouraging, and you're all the best friends I could have ever asked for. You inviting me to join the Freedom Fighters was the best thing that's ever happened to me, I can't thank you enough!"

Tails pulled Sonic into a hug, tears streaming down his face. "Thank you, thank you so much!"

Sonic returned Tails' embrace, "You're welcome Tails."

After a while, Sonic left the fox alone and returned to his own activities. Tails suddenly had a memory arise, one from his days in Robotropolis.

 _"It's too hard! I tried, I really did!"_ He quickly shut out the memory, but it wasn't willing to be stopped too easily as after a moment, another one struck.

 _"Please! I didn't mean t-"_

The figure of Robotnik continued to approach as Tails backed into a workbench. _"Well, you know what I do to failures…"_

Before Tails could react, he had been kicked in the chest, knocking the wind out of him and sending him sprawling onto the workbench, fragments of metal and assorted tools, tore at him as he hit it.

The fox doubled over in pain as Robotnik continued, _"Next time, you do what you're told!"_

The man left, leaving the injured fox alone, Tails stumbled to his feet, clutching the side of his chest where he had been struck. He slowly limped back to his own quarters, each step sending a wave of pain across his body. He let out a series of soft coughs as he tried to catch his breath. Something really hurt, but he didn't dare go back to his father for assistance. He would deal with it himself, like he always had.

He got back to his own corner of the city and painfully laid on his cot. K.I.T. was waiting in his room.

 _"Shard, run a medical scan please…"_

After a moment, the robotic voice responded, _"You appear to have a minor fracture on one of your ribs, it's not too severe. Would you like me to notify Robotnik?"_

 _"I'll be ok,"_ Tails responded through gritted teeth.

 _"Miles, this is your fourth injury and medical diagnostic this week. Are you certain you don't want me to notify Robotnik?"_

 _"I'm fine…"_ He growled, immediately regretting it as another wave of pain shot through his body. He laid down on the cot in his room, and started to cry, partially out of pain, but mostly out of sorrow. The burns and discoloration present on his back was still rather fresh as it had only been about three weeks now. He just wanted the beatings to stop. Eventually, he fell asleep, desperate for anything to relieve the pain.

As the memory faded, Tails found himself more appreciative for what he now had, instead of being beaten daily, he was now part of a group that loved and accepted him. He couldn't be any happier with the change in his life, he knew it would have to end eventually, but he decided to embrace it for as long as the war went on…

 **Alright guys, that's it for today! Let me know your thoughts on Sonic's solution, along with what you guys thought of seeing more of Tails' past! Until next time!**


	34. Power of Flight

**Hey guys! It's time for another update!**

 **UNS Exodus-7: I think it's my first time getting a review from you! Thanks for that! I've been trying to push out updates more frequently, especially now that I have more available time!**

 **TheGameNguyener: I intend on doing more moments with the two of them before the story is up! Tails' past was rather horrific and not something he completely enjoyed, not being a victim of abuse anymore is a good step forward. :)**

 **Dinner: Having lost his family in the past, he's not willing to go through it all again.**

 **Obliviblur: They've gone from being full on mortal enemies, to best friends, to family. We've certainly seen their relationship change over the course of the story!**

 **Yori Micah: It's getting closer and closer...**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **Power of Flight**_

The time for the Freedom Fighter's planned final raid on Robotropolis was fast approaching, and they all knew it. Many were nervous, as the last time they had attempted an attack like this, they had not only failed but also lost a team member.

Tails found himself wandering and browsing amongst his thoughts in the forest, he felt at home by himself. Not that he hated the Freedom Fighters, he just needed some time to himself. He had even left K.I.T. behind to just have some alone time.

As he walked, he found himself anxiously awaiting their final attack on Robotropolis, he couldn't wait to finally have vengeance on his father, assuming everything went right...

The idea of something going wrong was what bothered the kitsune, he didn't want to lose any of his friends, like Sonic, Sally, or Fiona.  
Fiona especially was rather close to him, and a small blush crossed his face thinking about their kiss. He still couldn't find words to describe the feeling, but he somehow knew it was love.

He still had the normal nervousness crop up at her presence, but it was slightly less overwhelming now. He thought of how he must have been after Infinite, while some of the visions he had seen still haunted him, he had mostly gotten over it.

As he walked, he noticed a small bird fly overhead and smiled. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind, one so sudden and powerful that it almost seemed like fate or divine intervention.

He started running dozens of calculations in his head, formulas he knew by heart from his days with Robotnik. Looking behind him, he sized up the width of his tails, getting a rather rough estimate, he also tested their flexibility, he twisted one around the other. As he continued these tests, his hypothesis was becoming more and more likely, what had started as a farfetched idea was now potentially going to become a reality.

Tails climbed up a nearby tree and stood on a rather sturdy branch, the fall to the floor below wasn't far, but it would hopefully be enough.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and stepped off into the air. He felt his sharp decent for a moment, that was until he slowed to a stop, floating in the air. He opened his eyes and looked back at his tails, they were busy rotating clockwise and somehow keeping him aloft, a massive grin crossed his face, that was, until his namesakes became entangled with one another and he plummeted to the ground.

Unfazed by the fall, he was determined to get better at his newfound ability, he reclimbed the tree and this time, before taking off, twisted his tails around each other counterclockwise, so that they could unravel while flying. He stepped off and this time, after a moment, he hung in the air again. It lasted much longer than he had hoped, he was able to continue hovering as long as his namesakes would allow. He did notice it was quite a bit tiring, but the pure adrenaline fueling his actions made it manageable.

He clambered up to the branch again, he had one more test he wanted to run. He walked off again and started to hover this time however, he flexed his tails and caused them to lean forward, he moved the same direction he had moved them, allowing him some control over his movement.

The final thing he tried was causing his namesakes to rotate faster, while he did know this would cut on his flight time, he wanted to try and gain some vertical altitude, he slowly began to ascend. The kitsune was incredibly pleased with himself as he ascended over the treetops, he hovered for a moment, before suddenly, he started to feel his decent. He had gotten distracted enough to completely forget about his limited flight time.

Falling through the canopy, he struck a few branches on the way down that broke his fall, by the time he had arrived again on solid ground, he had sustained a few scrapes, but not much more. He stood up and brushed himself off. With the adrenaline wearing off, he could feel how exhausted the endeavor had made him, nearly consuming all his energy. It didn't matter, the fox brimmed with excitement and quickly ran back toward Knothole to share his findings.

He quickly descended the ladder, practically throwing himself down the shaft and immediately tracked down Sonic. "Sonic!" He exclaimed, "I figured out something I can do!"

"Well, don't leave me waiting!"

Tails spun his namesakes and ascended gently until he hovered midair, Sonic's eyes went wide, and he smiled. "That's so cool!"

"Yeah!" Tails chuckled, "I can only do it for so long though..." The fox descended to the ground and landed on his feet.

"It doesn't matter, you can fly!" He pulled the kitsune into a hug, "I knew you were special!"

Tails blushed, "I'm not that different."

"Says the one with an extra tail that was artificially created." Sonic joked, getting a chuckle from the fox.

"Alright fair enough."

The two were silent for a moment until Tails spoke again. "Sonic... Why did you bring me here? Why did you invite me, your enemy, to join the Freedom Fighters?"

Sonic thought over his response, "Well, it's because I saw something in you."

"What?"

"Compassion. When we first met in Robotropolis, I assumed you had to have been a robot. Nobody that served Robotnik could believe they were fighting for what you said you were. But, as we ran into each other more, I found myself noticing something, the way you acted and talked led me to believe that you thought you were legitimately helping others. You seemed nice, just misguided."

"I guess I was..."

"Yeah, I noticed. I wanted to show you who Robotnik really is, but I don't think you ever really took my comments to heart. That day we met in the forest, I got to really talk to you. I shouldn't have, I knew I should have captured you and brought you with me. But when I saw the look in your eyes after I told you about Robotnik, I decided to let you go."

Sonic paused a moment before continuing, "I didn't see you again for a bit, I had my suspicions on what had happened, but nothing to confirm it. But a few weeks afterward I ran into you again, this time in custody of the Prowers. I wouldn't have recognized you if it wasn't for your tails, you didn't look anything like you had while working with Robotnik, there wasn't a uniform, and you seemed like a legitimately kind kid."

"I did just want to help out." Tails responded.

"Exactly! So, after talking for a bit, the idea occurred to me, we could use somebody like you. Somebody who had inside information on Robotropolis, and who better then Robotnik's son? I tried to at least get to know you a bit, and then gave you the idea. It seems like you've enjoyed it."

"I have, I still can't believe I'm actually here. Much less the fact that we're hopefully about to put an end to this war."

"You can say you were a part of it bud! You've helped us out quite a bit!"

"Yeah, I'm just wondering what everybody else will think of me, after the war I mean. I'll still be Robotnik's son to them, most of them are going to be like Fiona or Infinite..."

"Nobody is going to treat you like that creep! I'm going to make sure of it, and what about Fiona, aren't you two friends?"

"Yeah, but we weren't when we first met, she was mad at me for what I'd done. We're definitely close now, especially since she gave me a kiss."

"She what!? You two kissed!?"

Tails laughed at his startled outburst, "Yeah, we did, I just feel a connection to her. It's like somewhere, sometime, we were made for each other."

"I can't believe it; you've got a girlfriend! I think that's quite a step up from only having a robot dog and an abusive father!"

The kitsune grinned, "I guess so! Plus, I've got all of you guys!"

Sonic ruffled the kit's bangs, earning laughter from him. "You got that right bud! Robotnik doesn't have anything on us! Plus, you can fly now!"

"It's not really flying, more of a hover than anything."

"Close enough!"

The two of them were still plagued by the raid on Robotropolis growing increasingly nearer. Specifically, the idea that not all of them might survive the attack. Sonic and Tails both didn't want to lose the other, and they were already trying to think of ways to guarantee each other's safety.

 _"None of us are going to die,"_ They both thought. _"Not if I have anything to say about it!"_

 **-X-**

Tails return to his small portion of the compound and laid down on his bed, the meeting on the final attack had gone smoothly, everybody had good ideas and contributed, even himself with his knowledge of Robotropolis' layout and security protocols. Now, all that was left to do was wait, and worry. Tails was legitimately scared of what could happen, the thought of losing any of his friends so much so that he occasionally had trouble sleeping because of it, this was one of those nights.

He lie awake thinking to himself what could go wrong, of course he quickly dismissed most of these fears, but the idea of losing Sonic or Fiona taunted him. He didn't want to lose any of his friends, they all meant so much to him and his life that the idea of any of them being gone physically pained him. He dismissed the idea but just as quickly a new thought formed in his head. Sonic had said that other Mobians would be accepting of him after the war was over, but he had his own doubts about it. It was likely they would despise him like Infinite and Fiona when they had first met. Tails wasn't sure if he should be angry that he had come this far, only to be shut out, or is this was what he had expected in the first place and it was just something he'd have to accept. Either way, he rolled over in his sleep and peacefully fell into a deep slumber.

 **Alright guys, that's it for today! Let me know your thoughts! One last thing before I go, I'm not certain what happened with the last chapter, but the view count exploded! It got almost 300 views the day of posting! Thank you to everybody who's viewed this story and I'll see you guys later!**


	35. Rise of Darkness

**Hey everyone, it's time for another chapter!**

 **TheGameNguyener: I think I'll still use full usernames, make sure everybody gets the credit they deserve! As for the story, it was a fun chapter to write, and there'll certainly be a few more moments like that!**

 **Golden Eye: Thank you! I hope you enjoy the rest of the story!**

 **Dinner: Tails has come so far, and he desperately doesn't want to lose it all now!**

 **Yori Micah: We're almost to crunch time, and the end of the story as a whole!**

 **Stripe the Hedgetiger: Here's one for you now! Nice to see a review from you!**

 **Obliviblur: Remember, there's still a certain someone the Freedom Fighters haven't met yet, but we know about them! ;)**

 **Alright everyone, let's go!**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **Rise of Darkness**_

Tomorrow was the day, the day that hopefully, everything would come to an end and peace would be restored. Hopefully… Nobody knew exactly how this was going to go, and while they had drafted up some battle plans, courtesy of Sally's planning and Tails' knowledge of the area, it could go wrong at a moment's notice.

The Freedom Fighters were currently making their way through the outside edges of the city, they had one final target to sabotage before tomorrow, it's survival would make their assault much more difficult. The target was a defensive bastion, located on the easternmost edge of the city, specifically the power supply that allowed it to run.

As of now, they had each split up to cover ground more efficiently. After all, it allowed them to get better spread and damage with their explosives. Normally, they would travel in pairs, but it was crunch time, and they needed maximum destruction.

Tails crept through a series of hallways, taking care to keep out of sight of any cameras, he knew all their locations by heart, along with all of their potential blind spots. The set of two explosives were placed securely on a small pouch on his back, and the communicator attached to his belt was safely wired to an earpiece, making it so only he could hear their conversations.

"How's it going Tails?" He heard Sonic's voice ask.

"Going well, nothing except cameras in my area, there's a patrol every once in a great while."

"Sounds good, be sure to radio Sally when you've set the charges."

"Can do, I'm going to see what I can't do about the tunnel system down here, I'll make it more difficult to repair this area."

"You're the expert, just be lucky it's not you fixing it this time!"

Tails let a small smile cross his face, Sonic liked to joke about his former life with Robotnik quite a bit, not that the fox minded. "Can do, sir."

Sonic burst out laughing on the other end of the communicator, he put on his best Robotnik impression, "And if you're not done by tomorrow, expect severe punishment!"

There was no response, Sonic continued, "Too much?"

"Yeah…" Came the response, Tails had obviously had a memory of his abuse come back to him.

"I'm sorry, I forget how sensitive that is…"

"You're fine… It was actually a bit funny…"

"Tails you don't need to lie to me, that was too far, I understand. Just keep yourself safe alright…"

"Ok…"

Tails closed the line and sighed to himself, instinctively feeling the missing patches of fur on his back. Not staying hung up for too long however, he gathered himself and continued. As he went, he was unaware of a set of crimson eyes attempting to track his every move.

Shadow sighed, he knew his stuff, there was no denying he was a Robotnik. Miles Robotnik to be specific. Shadow flicked to another camera trying to figure out the kitsune's exact location. He had a specific reason to track Miles, as a fellow member of Project: Synthesis he found the fox as a defect, a part of the experiment that had gone wrong.

Something that needed to be removed…

The hedgehog stood up and started toward his last known position, it was time for him to prove his superiority…

Tails continued through the hallways, until he came across an opening to a subterranean access tunnel. Priming one of his charges, he set it just inside the doorway and continued on his way. He eventually came across a manufacturing area and set another charge, as he went to leave however, a bright yellow spear composed of pure energy struck the ground in front of him, causing the fox to yelp in surprise.

"Miles Robotnik!" He heard a voice yell, "I've been looking for you."

The fox drew his pistols, "Who are you?"

"I am Subject #5093, but you can call me Shadow."

A black colored hedgehog with red highlights appeared from the darkness, as he did, a bright yellow energy spear appeared in his hand. His crimson eyes glared into the kit's soul.

Tails was a bit stunned with his response, "You're part of Synthesis aren't you? Robotnik created you…"

"You're correct, but you're also a traitor and because of that, I can't allow you to live."

As Shadow raised his weapon, he was interrupted by the kitsune. "Shadow, I don't know what Robotnik is telling you, but he's lying to you. I was in your shoes, I believed what I was doing was right. I know what you're going through, and I can help you." The fox lowered his weapons and extended a hand out to the hedgehog. "Please, this isn't right…"

Shadow paused for a moment, "You'll never understand, I am your superior, you are a traitor that allowed themselves to be blinded and misguided by the Resistance. I will never be your friend!"

With that sentence, Shadow threw his weapon at the fox, who quickly dodged out of the way. He redrew his weapons and started his attempt to escape. As he did, a second spear flew past his head and embedded itself in a nearby piece of machinery, causing sparks to erupt from it.

Tails ran as fast as his legs would carry him, fearing what would happen if he didn't. The intruder alarms started blaring overhead as he made his escape, in a few ways, it reminded him of when he had his first taste of freedom months ago when he left Robotnik for good. He grabbed his communicator, "Guys! We need to get out, now! There's a hedgehog here that I don't recognize and he wants to kill me!"

"Got ya Tails, try and see if you can lose him, are you still in your building?" He heard Sonic's voice ask.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure how I'm going to get him off me!"

"You know the city better than anyone, I'll try and help but you'll need to try and deal with him!"

As the line finished, Tails looked back just in time to lean to the left as another spear rocketed past his face, Shadow was still firmly on his tail.

The hedgehog behind him produced a small gemstone that Tails recognized as a Chaos Emerald, then Shadow was instantly in front of the fox and Tails found himself squarely on his back, his chest a bit sore from being punched.

"You cannot run," Shadow began. "I am the Ultimate Lifeform and you are a traitor!"

Tails kicked the hedgehog in the chest and jumped to his feet, delivering a punch to the jaw as he got up. He then tried to strike him with his tails only to have the strike blocked and for Shadow to summon another spear and block his attack with its haft.

"Nice try," Shadow responded. "But I know you better then I think you'll ever know yourself!"

Tails decided to go with tried and true tactic of running, however, his attempts to flee were quickly blocked off by Shadow, how he moved so fast was unknown to the kitsune.

"Now, Miles, I believe it's time for you to die." As the hedgehog thrust the spear downward, Tails closed his eyes and braced himself for the inevitable, only to hear the sound of a sharp metallic clang and for the strike to never come.

As Tails opened his eyes, he found the last teammate he expected to see as Antoine had blocked the strike with his saber. Shadow notably appeared to be furious.

"That's it! You're dying as well!"

Antoine readied his weapon, while it was true he was normally a rather scared and cowardly Mobian, this was just a duel. No robots with lasers, no hidden defenses, just him and Shadow. This was something he could handle…

He deflected the next strike with the skill of a master swordsman, someone who had dedicated their life to their art and craft. Twisting the weapon, he managed to knock the spear out of the hedgehog's hands. Shadow summoned another weapon and instantly found himself on the defensive as he was forced into blocking attack after attack, each just barely giving him enough time to move his weapon.

While normally, Shadow would use Chaos Energy to end the fight quickly, the amount of pressure being applied forced him to place his full attention on the attacks, rather than channeling Chaos Energy, so much so in fact, that he didn't even notice the pair of stun blasts that impacted him in the side of the head, knocking the hedgehog out instantly.

Tails holstered his pistols and fled with Antoine, as they left the compound, they were attacked by more patrolling robots, although they were quickly defeated. Once they left the city's limits and began the trek to regroup with the others did Tails speak. "Thanks for the save back there, I'd probably be dead if it wasn't for you..."

"Don't worry about it," Antoine responded. "Who was that back there?"

"I'll cover it when we get back to the group, they need to know as well."

The canine nodded and they trekked back through the forest's edge and eventually, reached where the rest of the team members had gathered. Sally, upon confirming that they had all escaped safely, had Rotor detonate the charges, turning an entire block of the city into a ball of flames. As they looked back, Tails cleared his throat. "We might have a problem..."

"What it is?" Sonic questioned.

"Robotnik made another- another me..."

"You mean like a clone?"

"He's another genetic creation, like myself, he even said his identification number. His name's Shadow, and he seems to have a connection to Chaos Energy. Do we call off the attack?"

"No," Sally interjected. "We can't call it off now, we're finishing this war, with or without Shadow's intervention."

The others agreed, they had come too far to go back now, and they already had planned tomorrow morning for the assault. Tails agreed, but found himself asking one question, why did Shadow not believe him? Maybe the hedgehog had been brought up differently than he had. Either way, he wasn't about to let Robotnik cause any more pain for others, the war was going to end, even if had to die to make it happen.

Sonic walked up to the kitsune, "So I guess you're not the only genetic creation any more huh?"

"I guess so." Tails responded, shrugging as he said it.

"Well, just know, you're the best one ok. Also, again, I'm sorry for what I said earlier, just slipped out."

"You're fine! Honestly, it's getting better!"

"That's great! Hopefully after tomorrow we'll all be able to just put this all behind us!"

Tails smiled and the group returned to finalize the plans for the next day...

 **Alright everyone, that's it for today! Let me know what you thought and follow to receive updates whenever I post! Until next time!**


	36. Sons of Robotnik

**Alright everyone, so for any of you that got the liberty of reading the original Chapter 36, you'll know that there was a major event or two that happened, for those who didn't see the update, I'm rewriting the chapter entirely. Those who read the original and saw the announcement know why.**

 **I'd like to thank everyone for the kind words after the announcement whether it was through reviews or PMs, hopefully this chapter will be up to standard and will be more enjoyable! I'd especially like to thank ToaArcan on AO3 for calling me out on the last chapter, he recognized what had happened and sent me a long review essentially calling me out. I agree with all of it, and I have now written what I originally had planned!**

 **Review time.**

 **Obliviblur: Hopefully this one satisfies your need for more content! Luckily, this is not the final, but we're getting close!**

 **Dinner: I wanted to give Antoine his moment, despite being somewhat timid, he is still an accomplished swordsman!**

 **Let's get started!**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **Sons of Robotnik**_

The Freedom Fighters divided into three groups, hopefully it would allow them to cover everything they needed to do to ensure Robotnik's capture and the end of the war.

Antoine, Rotor, and Bunnie were tasked with keeping as many of the patrols and guards off everybody else as much as possible, hopefully they could buy enough time to ensure that everybody else could do their jobs.

Sonic and Sally were taking the fight to Robotnik themselves; it was almost unanimously agreed that the two of them had more hatred for Robotnik then any of them, and that they had done enough for the Freedom Fighter cause that they deserved it.

Tails and Fiona had been tasked with not only securing their escape route, but also ensuring that Robotnik couldn't escape once he was cornered. If they needed too, they could secure him if the opportunity arose.

The two foxes quietly moved through the outskirts of the city, they moved toward the gate located on the eastern side, Miles knew that it was possible to seal and lock the gates but getting into the system would be difficult, especially because of the security system. As such, Tails had been entrusted with Nicole's housing, which would hopefully expedite the process. She also acted as a communicator with the other Freedom Fighters, allowing everybody to stay in touch.

"Hey Tails, how's it going?" Sonic's voice asked, the noise coming from Nicole.

"Alright I guess, taking a bit longer then I had hoped."

"Just take your time, remember, we're not starting until you're sure he can't escape, I trust you'll know when it's enough."

"Yeah, I know. Hopefully afterward, we'll get to Robotnik in time to help!"

"Awesome, keep up the good work bud!"

The line went silent as the duo approached the main gate. The rest of the Freedom Fighters were waiting for their signal to engage, and by signal, they of course meant the intruder alarm.

"Well," Tails began. "I think that's as far as we're going to get, you want to do the honors?"

"With pleasure…"

Fiona charged out from the shadows, instantly landing a strike to the central housing of one of the guards. The others turned to face her and opened fire as the alarm began to sound overhead. The manual gate controls were located at the top of a nearby watch tower, and so they needed to reach the top of it. While Tails figured he might be able to fly up to it, splitting up in the middle of enemy territory seemed like a bad idea. Additionally, he wasn't confident in his abilities to carry himself and Fiona at the same time as well, so doing things the old-fashioned way seemed like the best method.

Tails dove out and joined the fight, discharging plasma blasts from his pistols into anything that dared get into their way. The two of them moved like long time companions, working with a deadly efficiency, soon, enough of the guards had been dealt with that they ascended the tower, they had a view of the surrounding area as Tails hooked Nicole up to the central interface. As soon as the lynx entered into the computer, she was greeted by a familiar face and presence.

"Nicole? What are you doing here?"

She smiled at the voice of her old friend, "Finally ending this war Shard, and hopefully, setting you free, we need your help though."

"What do you need help with?"

"Can you open all of the doors to the throne room? We need to take Robotnik down."

Shard smiled, "With pleasure…"

As Nicole sealed off the gates and exits, Shard allowed the Freedom Fighters access to the throne room, he knew that doing so could get him deleted, but if they succeeded, it would mean the end of his suffering and finally having the freedom he desired.

As the gate sealed, and Tails retrieved Nicole, the tower the two of them were in shook, and started to tilt over to the side. Looking out, Fiona saw a black hedgehog summon another spear looking projectile in his hands and threw it at the tower, it detonated on impact, shaking the tower again. The two foxes grabbed onto anything they could to stabilize themselves, until, Tails had an idea.

"Grab my hand, and hopefully this'll work!"

Fiona grabbed his arm as the entire building crumbled, the kitsune twisted his tails and as the structure came down, started to hover. Carrying Fiona did put significant strain on his tails and arm, it felt like it could come dislodged from its socket at any second. The landing for the two of them was rough, but they survived.

Shadow, meanwhile, watched the crumbling structure with glee. He turned away, assuming the duo was now at least incapacitated, and sped toward the throne room. Sonic had been spotted near there, and he had an idea as to what he was up to.

Coughing, they stood up. "Since when can you fly!?" Fiona exclaimed.

Tails nervously smiled, "I figured out I could the other day, I forgot to tell you..."

Fiona smiled back at him before heading toward the throne room, as they ran. They heard Sally's voice over Nicole. "Are you two alright?"

"Yeah," Fiona responded. "Robotnik should be available now that the throne room is open."

Sally acknowledged their response as the two made their way to the throne room, as they traveled. Several other comments from the other Freedom Fighters confirmed their suspicions, Shadow had arrived.

Tails and Fiona burst into the throne room and found utter mayhem. From below the balcony they were on they could see that the other five Freedom Fighters were busy fighting off all manner of throne room guards and robots. Sonic dashing through them with his signature speed. Sally had two plasma blades that extended from her wrists, slicing through anything with expert precision. Bunnie and Antoine seemed to be the most in sync of the group, taking out anything that came near them with brutal efficiency. Rotor, while it did look like the walrus was out of his comfort zone, was doing rather well for himself, Tails felt the overwhelming feeling of hope with everybody working together as one. He knew that they had a legitimate chance to end this war.

Fiona jumped off the balcony they were on and grabbed a nearby support beam, sliding down it to the floor. Tails hovered to the floor and set himself down on the ground and the two joined the fray.

Shadow watched the display with utter distaste, he wanted nothing more than to prove himself to Miles. He was the superior, and as such, he made a charge for the kitsune.

Being struck in the back and landing on his chest, Tails jumped back to his feet and faced Shadow, firing a barrage of blaster bolts in his direction. The ebony hedgehog summoned a spear and used it to block the shots, throwing his weapon at the kit, who rolled to dodge. Shadow charged forward, and Tails had the potential idea of grabbing the spear that had landed by him, as he did, he felt the power for just a moment before the weapon dissipated in his hands.

Tails was punched in the face and was sent staggering backward. Rather than continuing his assault however, Tails suddenly had a thought. Shadow was himself. The kit saw in Shadow everything he saw in himself. Shadow was what he could have become without the Freedom Fighters.

"Shadow, I know who you are, I know what you're going through... This isn't right, and you know it." Tails said, gesturing to the fighting around him.

"You don't know what you're talking about, of course I know what I'm doing!"

"This isn't what everyone deserves, loss of free will, life under a tyrant!?"

"We're working for perfection, a world without pain or loss!"

Shadow threw another spear at him, and the kit attempted to dodge, he wasn't able to get far enough however and the weapon grazed his arm, causing blood to begin flowing from the wound.

Tails applied pressure to the injury and continued, he was going to get through to him, he holstered his weapons. "Shadow, I don't know what Robotnik's told you, or what he's done to you, but did he ever tell you how me treated me?"

The hedgehog shook his head, Tails continued, "Robotnik abused me, he constantly had me beaten and punished, sometimes for things I couldn't do anything about. The fox exposed his damaged back to the hedgehog, "Is this really what you want to fight for? Is this your perfect world?"

Shadow was stunned, Miles' comments had a weight to them that he was forced to accept. But he wasn't quite sure if it was something he could agree about. The spear in the hedgehog's hand vanished.

Fiona approached Tails, noticing his injury, he brushed her away, he couldn't have distractions, not when he was so close to getting to Shadow.

"Shadow, I don't expect you to turn against Robotnik, but know he's not telling the truth. Believe me, I thought the same things you're probably thinking right now. You're scared, confused… It took me eight years to recognize what I had done wrong, even now, I have trouble forgiving myself, we're not perfect. But that's what makes us who we are."

"So what do you expect me to do?"

"I don't expect you to fight Robotnik with us, that would be asking a bit much, but, from one creation to another, I say run away. It's what I did, and ever since then, I've never been happier, I feel like you could probably find the same things I did."

Shadow sighed, "Sorry about your arm…"

"It's fine! I probably would have done the same!"

"So, I guess this might be a goodbye then…"

"I hope we meet again Shadow."

The hedgehog nodded and instantly, vanished. Tails smiled to himself, he truly wished Shadow the best. Fiona, now noticing Shadow's absence, returned over to him.

"Tails, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just stings a little." He responded, gesturing to his arm.

Fiona removed the kit' blood-soaked glove from the wound, the slice wasn't deep, and so simply wrapping it with bandages proved enough to give it the medical help it needed.

"What was that all about?" Fiona asked, "About Shadow I mean?"

"I told him the truth, the same way Sonic did to me. I think he took it to heart!"

"So where'd he go?"

"I don't know, not here, hopefully we'll meet again at some point…"

"Alright, well, Robotnik isn't here. Where else could he be, you're the expert?"

Tails stood up and walked over to the throne, pressing a series of button on it, a secret doorway opened on the side of it, revealing a back passage way. "He can't get out from down there without coming out this way, he's backed into a corner." Tails responded.

"So let's get him!" Sonic responded, inciting a cheer from the Freedom Fighters.

The passageway was dark, Tails had somewhat limited knowledge of the passage ways, but the walls and walkways felt familiar somehow.

The group called a lift that after a moment, carried the seven of them down further into the city's interior.

As the door opened, Tails recalled why this all seemed so familiar, as they had just stepped into a genetic laboratory.

"Tails?" Sonic questioned, "Is this where you were…"

"I think so… I was still really young then, so my memories of the time aren't perfect, but I think it is…"

The fox connected Nicole to a central computer terminal, "Nicole, bring up all entries for Subject Designation: Four thousand, two hundred and sixty one."

After a tense moment, the computer responded. "Entry Log Found: Subject Miles Robotnik."

The kit turned to Sonic, "I think that confirms it, Nicole, can I get all the project files for that downloaded?"

"Yes, downloading entries now. They are heavily encrypted however, and will require some degree of work."

"That's fine, just want the files for later."

Sonic gave him a puzzled look, "Don't you already know about your own files?"

"I do know the public ones, but Robotnik had a few files that I know he kept to himself. Nicole should be able to access the other info from here."

Sonic nodded in understanding, "Cool, are you sure you're good to keep going bud? Your arm looks a bit messed up."

While the bandage had started to have small blood splotches on it, it wasn't too bad, and Tails had barely noticed. "Yeah, I'm fine. Alright everyone, remember, Robotnik is down here somewhere, stay on your guard."

"Do you have any idea where he would be hiding?" Sally asked.

"I barely remember this place, this room is the only one I even slightly remember, and even then, it's all fuzzy. I think we're on our own from here."

"That's fine!" Fiona added, "We'll find him no matter what it takes!"

The others all agreed and they continued forward, leaving the genetic laboratory, they descended further into the city's underbelly. Most still had their weapons drawn, ready to be used at a moment's notice. As they traveled, they came across several half finished projects, their intentions completely unknown to everyone.

Tails stopped to investigate a long abandoned work station, a thin layer of dust covered it's surface and several older documents were strewn about on the table. As he looked through the few papers that were present in passing, something caught his eye. He grabbed the paper and blew some of the dust off, and instantly, he wished he hadn't.

The paper depicted a robotizied fox with two tails…

It included technical readouts of it's weapon systems and the exact process for his Robotization, which was due to happen when he was physically fourteen so he could be in prime physical condition. Tails was currently thirteen, he had been only a few months off from being robotizied when he left Robotnik.

The rest of the team noticed his shocked expression, "Tails?" Fiona asked. "Are you ok?"

Sonic retrieved the piece of paper from him, his eyes took on a look of pure shock. "Tails, bud, I'm sorry…"

"I- It's fine, I just didn't know…"

"If it makes you feel any better, we're finally going to bring him in."

"It helps a bit…" Silence for a moment, then, as the group continued further, Tails spoke again.

"Guys, what's going to happen to me? I mean, after this is all over. Infinite told me that I'd never be accepted, I know you all told me not to listen to what he said, but I just can't get that out of my head…"

Fiona piped up, "Tails, I think you'll be welcome with any of us, even if nobody else wants you."

The kit smiled, "Thanks Fiona…"

The walls around them eventually started to appear more modern, they were close. Everyone raised their weapons and many of them had their fur stand on end.

Everyone however, felt a close connection to something that was down deep below the depths of the city, although none of them had ever traveled here, it somehow felt like a familiar presence to everyone.

As they stepped through a doorway and onto a balcony overlooking a large room, they found the origin of the feeling.

A large golden, glowing pool sat in the center of the room. Almost all of them, except Tails, instantly recognized it. This, was the Source Of All…

The Source Of All was a mythical being, said to house unlimited power. It was even theorized that the pool itself had created the universe, it's story had been passed down from generation to generation, and now, it was in Robotnik's hands.

The rotund scientist looked up at them, they could have sworn they saw a smile cross his face. "Well, I didn't think you'd all actually show up! I must say, I'm impressed!"

"You've gone too far Robotnik!" Tails yelled at him.

"I'm going to take great pleasure in finally ending this war Miles! You could have joined me!"

A snarl crossed the fox's face, "Never, I hope you know that Shadow agrees with me, it's just you!"

The tyrant's laughter filled the room, the echo only working to amplify its strength. "You poor naïve child," The doctor held out a small gemstone, it's color almost a pure black. "Do you know what this is? This is solidified negative Chaos Energy, Shadow was just a stepping stone, after I honed his powers I eventually managed to get him to channel as much of it as he could into this stone. Now, using this, and The Source Of All, I can finally rule this pathetic world! But why stop there, with The Source on my side, I'll be a God!"

Sonic leaned over to Tails, "That wacko's your dad?" He whispered.

"I guess you could say I'm more like my mother…"

Robotnik dropped the stone into the pool, and its effect was almost instantaneous, black tendrils seeped out from the gem and spread throughout the liquid, like food dye to water.

A thick black smoke enveloped the ground, several elongated shadowy arms emerged from the deep. Robotnik could be heard laughing manically, "It's better then I could have possibly imagined! Now, it's time for the reign of Robotnik to begin!"

As soon as those words were uttered, the arms turned on Robotnik, hoisting him up into the air. The tyrant struggled against his restraints, that was, until he was dropped into the dark pool below. As soon as he surfaced, his scream was heard throughout the chamber, as the Freedom Fighters looked down, they saw Robotnik was disintegrating below, his body turned to dust as just as quickly, his screams went silent.

The arms then turned to the Freedom Fighters, "Run!" Sally exclaimed.

Not needing to be told twice, they all split up as it destroyed the catwalk they were stood on, not only causing them to fall, but also destroying their only exit. They were now trapped with the purest incarnation of negative Chaos Energy, and nobody was sure what do…

 **Alright everyone, hopefully that's much better then the original chapter 36 was, expect some more long chapters here as I try to finish out the story. Again, I'm sorry for the original chapter 36 and I hope this will satisfy all of you! Until next time!**


	37. Embodiment of Corruption

**Hey everyone, it's update time! I've got another chapter, you might all be wondering why I'm off my usual update schedule here, well it's because we're so close to finishing up that I figured I'd knock it all out in a chapter or two! I hope that's fine with all you guys!**

 **TheGameNguyener: I still got what you meant! Shadow and Tails were in very similar circumstances, being raised under Robotnik after all. I'm much happier with how the chapter ended up being compared to the original! I'm excited to be nearing the end!**

 **Violet Summit: It's something I'm planning on doing, the old Chapter 36 is still in my drive and so I'll probably write an alternate ending where the original Chapter 36 happened! It could be a bit before then though.**

 **ToaArcan: It's cool if you return to lurking, I'm just happy to know you're enjoying the story! The Source of All being corrupted however introduces a new problem...**

 **Obliviblur: I saw that you liked the first, but I'm personally much more satisfied with the new one! It's nice to know you still enjoyed the new version!**

 **Alright everyone, that's everyone for now, let's get going!**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **Embodiment of Corruption**_

Fighting against a mythic being, was proving to be a challenge, while the Freedom Fighters attacked the corrupted Source of All with everything they had, nothing seemed to be doing anything of note to the creature, which constantly fired blasts of pure Chaos Energy at our heroes.

"Alright!" Sonic's voice spoke over the communicator as they all split up. "What does everybody know about the Source, even if it's a myth!"

"Nicole says that it's comprised almost entirely of pure Chaos Energy," Tails responded. "I'm not sure if that's helpful though..."

"I've got something," Sally began. "The Source can be bound to a physical host, but none of us work."

"Why not?" Sonic asked.

"It needs a fully grown adult Mobian, if we could get it to bind to somebody, it would take control of them, but, it would lessen it's power significantly!"

"Yeah, but by the time one of us gets a host here, it'll probably be out of this room!"

No one could argue with that, they were barely able to keep it contained as it was with all of them.

Tails thought over their situation, rolling out of the way of another blast of energy. They needed somebody older then any of them, and soon…

 _"Wait a minute…"_ Tails thought, "Sally, is there any other condition? Or is being older enough?"

"Hopefully it's enough, the only reason Robotnik disintegrated is because he didn't fit the requirements for a host as he wasn't a Mobian. Just touching it should be enough to bind the two if they're worthy."

Tails again thought over his plan, "Nicole, can you decrypt some of those files from earlier for me?"

"Of course, which of them?"

"Anything involving the Growth Accelerator, I need you to check something once you have it."

"The Accelerator wasn't encrypted in the first place, I have all the info on it available."

"I need you to see if there's any way to reverse it's effects, if so, I need to know, even if it's not possible here."

"One moment," A tense silence from the device followed. "I believe it is possible to create a counter agent for the Accelerator."

Well, that settled it, Tails was now going to start his plan. "Guys, I've got an idea, try and hold it off!"

The kit flew up to the doorway back toward the surface, he quickly returned to the genetic laboratory, "Nicole, how would I make the Accelerator?"

She began to relay the instructions, which Tails carefully followed using materials around the laboratory. Soon he had a syringe worth of the serum. But he kept going, eventually creating ten syringes worth of it.

"Miles, what are you doing?" Nicole asked.

"They said they needed a fully grown Mobian, if I accelerate my growth, I should be able to act as a host for the Source. Normally, it takes a few days for the Accelerator's effects to fully set in, but, we don't have the time to wait a week for me to be older, so, if I inject enough into myself, it should speed it up to the point that it's enough!"

Nicole was puzzled by his solution, but after a moment, she understood. "I hope you know what you're doing…"

Tails nodded, grabbed the first needle, and injected it into his blood stream. Then another, and another. Until all ten had been used up. Instantly, his blood felt like it was on fire. His body was simply not designed to deal with excessive amounts of a foreign substance in his blood, waves of pain rippled through his body as he screamed out in agony.

He slowly made his way to his feet, he was starting to age slightly as the effects took hold. His fur had darkened slightly, and he noticed he was taller. He began to travel back toward the Source, continuing his accelerated growth as he did. He stumbled back into the doorway, there were several confused looks that were given to him as he dashed over and dove into the liquid, throwing Nicole to Sonic as he did.

As soon as he made contact with the black fluid, his mind was overwhelmed by another presence. His blood continued to burn as he heard a deep booming voice in his head. It overtook his thoughts, making it difficult to focus on anything else.

"You are not familiar to me…" The voice spoke, "Are you perhaps the creation of Robotnik?"

"I am," He responded.

"Your thoughts differ from your father's, he proved unsuitable for my purposes. But you, are perfect."

Tails felt his body go rigid, it felt like his hands and feet were bound as he floated weightlessly. Strangely, despite there being no obvious air, he didn't feel strained, or even slightly panicked. The voice continued.

"Offer yourself to me, I will give you power beyond your comprehension."

Tails had heard binding himself to the Source would somehow weaken it, while the specifics were unknown to him, he trusted Sally's judgement.

"I accept…"

Almost instantly, a migraine developed. His head felt like it could split open at any moment, he felt pure Chaos Energy flow into him, it made him feel powerful. He still burned from the effects of his rapid growth and between that and the now completely domination sensation, he lost control and blacked out.

 **-X-**

Everyone was shocked, Tails had dove into the Source without a second thought, at any moment, they expected him to surface, screaming in pain as his body turned to dust, but it never came. In fact, the attacks died out completely and slowly, the black color of the pool turned back to a pristine gold as it collapsed toward the center.

As the darkness reseeded, it was found that Tails was floating at the center of the suction, seemingly pulling the black tendrils into himself. Once all the darkness had vanished, the fox floated to the surface, and was gently pushed ashore by a current.

As they dragged him out, they noticed he was different, he looked older.

"Nicole," Sonic began. "What did Tails do when he left?"

"Tails created several doses of the Growth Accelerator that was given to him as a child, using it to speed his growth to be a valid vessel for the Source of All."

"Is there any way to reverse it?"

"There is, in fact, I have the formula to create a counter agent now."

Sonic was impressed by Tails foresight; he couldn't wait to turn the kitsune back to his normal age when he woke up. Sally went to sling him over her shoulder, only to receive a sock to the face as the fox stood up.

"Now this..." He spoke, he sounded like a completely different being then Tails was, as their voice had no similarities. "Is more like it."

The Freedom Fighters glared at the fox, whom simply smiled. "I'm not sure you comprehend the gravity of your situation, allow me to show you."

Instantly, a massive explosion shook the room as The Source of All unleashed a massive discharge of Chaos Energy. Now having a physical form, he was capable of channeling it much more efficiently. However his form offered a certain weakness as well, one that the Freedom Fighters were going to ruthlessly exploit. He could now be harmed.

Everyone immediately attacked the fox, Tails had given them an opening and it wasn't about to go to waste. The fox released another explosion of Chaos Energy, sending the team backwards into the walls of what was left if the chamber. "Do you really think that will work? You forget exactly who I'm inhabiting, I not only have control over his body, but also his mind. I know the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of all of you, you can't possibly hope to win."

For once, the Freedom Fighters were completely and utterly stumped. There didn't appear to be much they could do to hope to injure the fox, much less stop him.

"Sally, is there any way we can break the connection?" Sonic asked.

"Not easily, it requires renewal every once in a while, so if we can keep him away from it for days, it should hopefully break the link, the question then becomes what to do with all the negative Chaos Energy…"

With everybody thinking through potential ideas, Fiona had a thought occur to her. If he had all of Tails' memories, maybe he'd remember her. The plan she came up with was risky, if it failed, she could injure herself severely, or worse, it could kill her. But, she had to do it, it was the only lead they had.

She stood up and calming walked toward the kitsune, whom was still busy on his rampage, he turned to face her, and lowered his hand. "You finally realize how hopeless the situation is…"

Fiona simply lowered her voice to a soft calming tone, "Tails, I know you're in there somewhere, do you remember me?"

His expression turned softer for a moment, the other Freedom Fighters simply halted their assault, Fiona clearly had something in mind. "Fiona?"

She smiled, "Yeah, you can do it Tails, he can't control you."

The kit shook his head, "No, I'm in charge here!" He responded, the fox raised his hand to unleash a blast of energy, only to have some force, or other entity, hold him back.

"Tails, stop this, please…"

While the kitsune was busy fighting off his inner demons, and fighting for control, Fiona pulled him into a hug. As Tails temporarily took back control, he returned the embrace.

"Tails…" Fiona began, "I'm really sorry about this…"

Instantly, the fox felt a stun blast strike him on the back of the head and his world went black. Fiona holstered one of the kit's pistols, making sure to keep supporting his now limp body as she did. She hated stabbing him in the back like that, but it was the only way to break him completely free of the Source's influence.

The other Freedom Fighters rushed over and started to check on the fox, meanwhile, a question manifested in Sonic's thoughts.

"Is that it? Did we win?"

Everybody smiled, Robotnik was gone, Robotropolis had been abandoned for the most part, it seemed like finally, they could all have peace. Everybody exchanged happy moments as for now, everything was perfect. Hopefully, they could rebuild the city and restore it to it's former glory. A new golden age on Mobius had begun.

 **Alright everyone, that's it for today! There's probably going to be one or two more chapters after this, but this isn't the end of the story! Let me know your thoughts! Until next time!**


	38. Finale

**Alright guys, its finally time to end this thing! You might have also guessed by now, but that also means a long author's note at the end of this, I'll save the personal thanks until then! First, I've got reviews!**

 **Stripe the Hedgetiger: Shadow's now finished his character arc, but that doesn't mean he won't show up here!**

 **Obliviblur: Needless to say, your concerns will be addressed! I'll be going over the aftermath of what happened last chapter, with it potentially finally being over!**

 **Dinner: Yeah, I felt it would just be better to rewrite the entirety of chapter 36, and honestly, it's been for the better!**

 **Cyan Quartz: Miles was going to have two additional tails, while one was removed, the other extra one was already too far along to get rid of, hense the reason why he now has two!**

 **Alright! Let's finish this up!**

 **Subject #4261**

 _ **Finale**_

After carrying the unconscious fox to a certain nearby village, Tails was left in custody of Finitevus, whom had now been somewhat cured of his madness. They began to spread the message that Robotnik had been defeated and that the war was over.

Using Nicole's files, they created a counter agent for Tails' growth accelerator and after giving him a few doses, he was back to his normal self. Sally informed them that it could take almost a week for the entirety of the Source of All's control to wear off, and not wanting to take any chances, they kept him sedated until then.

His sleep wasn't entirely peaceful however, he would mumble under his breath as he slept, and even once he had been caught sleepwalking. Naturally, to secure Mobius' safety, they had him restrained to his bed, not allowing him to leave it.

Eventually, they removed his restraints and woke him, feeling confident that its influence had worn off by now…

Tails' eyelids felt incredibly heavy, he shifted around a bit. He could faintly hear talking, but his ears refused to pick up on what he was hearing. He slowly opened his eyes and instantly wished he hadn't, as the lights strained his vision.

Eventually, several figures came into focus, which he recognized as the Freedom Fighters. "Guys?"

Instantly, he was pulled into a group hug, as the entire team embraced him. Tails questioned exactly what had happened as he slowly came back to his senses.

"We won Tails!" Sonic exclaimed, "Robotnik's done!"

As the weight of those words settled into the kit's mind, he smiled and hugged everyone back. "So, what happens now?" He asked.

"Well, hopefully, we rebuild as best we can and get the kingdom back on its feet!"

He smiled, as happy as he was now however, something felt different about himself. Something was constantly beckoning him back to the city. Eventually as he thought about it, the words came to his mind.

"You are perfect…"

That was what the Source had told him, it was the Source that wanted him back, well he wasn't going to let it, the pull was weak anyways, so he could ignore it with relative ease.

Sonic's expression brightened for a moment, "Tails, we also finished decoding your project files! If you want to look through them, you can!"

"That's alright," He responded. "I'm just gonna take a nap really quick…"

"Alright bud, get some rest."

Tails closed his eyes and fell into a deep slumber, pleasant dreams of the future floating through his thoughts.

 **-X-**

Tails woke up on his bed in the Prower household, his eyes adjusted to the light and he stood up. As he left his bedroom, he was immediately greeted by Rosemary. "Nice to see you're awake!"

"Nice to see you guys again! Especially now that the whole thing is over!"

Rosemary smiled and Skye appeared, greeting the kitsune with a smile, Amadeus was close behind. The four of them caught up on what had happened and Tails told stories of things that occurred with the Freedom Fighters.

After about two hours, they were interrupted by a knock at the door. Amadeus stood and answered it, revealing a pair of royal marines.

"Is a Miles Robotnik present?" One of them asked, Amadeus knew the surviving marines were gathered up and reintroduced to clear out the city of Robotropolis. He called Tails to the door.

"Miles Robotnik, you have been summoned before the Royal Council of Acorn. A trial will be held tomorrow to have you atone for the charges presented against you."

Tails was in shock, and couldn't find the words to speak, Amadeus took over. "I think you have the wrong idea here, Miles lives with us."

"I'm afraid not sir, the Council demands his appearance, now he can either willingly comment with us, or we can take him by force."

Amadeus looked ready to put up a fight, but he was quickly stopped by Tails, "I'll go."

The elder fox sighed, but relented as Tails stepped out the door. A pair of shackles were placed around his wrists as he was escorted away. He wasn't sure what was about to happen to him, but he knew it couldn't be good…

After a few hours, Miles found himself in one of Robotropolis' holding cells, from the info he'd gathered from the marines, they hadn't finished reconstruction, and so they were improvising by using what was left of Robotropolis in the meantime.

They had removed his restraints however, allowing him complete and free movement. One of the guards stepped up to his cell, "You have a visitor." Sally appeared just outside the bars. "Tails, I don't know what they're doing. I didn't call this, the Council wants to put you on trial, I've tried explaining but…"

"Is there anything you can do? What are they charging me with?"

"Genocide, Treason, and Conspiracy. I think there's something I can do though…"

"What is it?"

"As the monarch, I can try to pardon you."

Tails thought it over for a moment, "You would?"

"Tails, I've gotten to know you well over the past year or so, and honestly, I don't think you deserve to be killed for what you did in the past…"

"I'll- I'll think about it…"

"You don't deserve this Tails, just know that ok."

The kitsune smiled, hopefully this would all work out. As he waited for night to fall and for him to get some sleep, he was met by another visitor, Sonic had come to see what exactly had happened.

"Tails, what's happening?"

"I don't know, apparently the Council wants to put me on trial!"

"Well I heard that much!" Sonic exclaimed. "I mean, they want to kill you! We're going to see what we can do about it, hopefully before your trial tomorrow!"

"Thanks, that means a lot to me..."

"Well we're not just going to let you die! What kind of friends would we be!?"

Tails strangely enough, started to have tears build up in his eyes. Sonic was a bit confused on what was happening, "Tails? Are you alright?"

The kitsune wiped the tears from his eyes the effort proving somewhat fruitless, "Yeah, I'm alright. I just don't know how to thank you guys! You're all amazing friends!"

Sonic beckoned him over and gave him a hug through the bars, Tails returned the gesture as tears of joy cascaded down his face. Eventually his sniffles died down and he got hold of himself. "Sonic, I know I've told you this before, but thank you for letting me be a part of this... Even if I am killed, I just want to say that much."

"You're not going to die Tails, I'll make sure of that."

"Sally said that too, I'm sure you won't…"

Sonic waved him goodbye as his third and final visitor for the night arrived, Fiona made a short appearance outside his cell, she did look somewhat angry. "I can't believe this! I mean, they really think they can just-"

"Fiona!" Tails interrupted, "They're just scared, and for good reason. Remember how we both acted when we met? That's them now, they're just afraid of me."

"Still doesn't make them right!" Fiona pouted, being forced to accept the kit's reasoning. "Just don't do anything stupid out there, ok?"

"Alright, I'll try not to…"

There was a moment of silence between the two for a moment. "You know…" Fiona quietly began, "You looked kind of cute when you were older…"

Tails looked up at her for a minute, "T- Thanks, you're pretty as well…" He responded, his cheeks turning bright pink of a moment.

"So… After you get out of here… Would you, want to go on a date?"

Tails was at a loss of words for a second, "Y- Yeah! I'd love to!"

The vixen smiled, "Great! We'll work it out after, is that fine?"

The kitsune nodded his head, "Alright, see you tomorrow."

Fiona left for the night and Tails was left to his own thoughts, eventually however, he drifted off for the night, wondering how the next day would go…

 **-X-**

The kit was awoken by the sound of his cell door opening and the rattling of a set of chains. Immediately, a voice made its way into his thoughts. "Morning Robotnik, the Council requests your presence."

Tails yawned and sat up, donning another fresh pair of tan shorts and a white shirt. A pair of guards waited patiently outside his cell, while another had entered with a set of chain shackles, which he placed around the fox's wrists, the guard's species was unrecognizable due to his uniform, the mask completely obscuring his features.

As he followed behind the guard that had confined him, the other two followed closely behind, Tails' chains made a metallic clinking noise in tandem with each of his steps.

He took deep breaths to calm himself, reminding him he had nothing to fear as they made their way through the somewhat empty streets, all other Mobians he did cross shot him glares that stung like daggers. He tried his best to ignore them, but he could feel their gaze burning into his soul. They made a turn toward the central throne room, and eventually, they arrived at its entrance. He hesitantly stepped inside, complete and utter nervousness taking over his thoughts. He was greeted with a large stand with several chairs behind in, sat in the seven chairs were the members of the Royal Council of Acorn, whom obviously, were somewhat disgusted by his appearance. The fox hung his head as he was led to a nearby table, sat next to him was Sally, whom noticed his somber appearance.

"Tails, I promise, I'll get you out of this."

There was no response as the lead member of the Council spoke. "This hearing is now in session. The Council calls Miles Robitnik."

As directed by Sally, he slowly stood and made his way to the central stand and looked up, staring the Councilmen directly in the eyes. He felt nervous and lightheaded, like at any moment the world underneath him would spiral away and he would be left in an endless dark void.

"Miles Robotnik, today you stand accused of many crimes pressed against you, the most extreme of which being Conspiracy, Treason, and Intent to Commit Genocide. How do you plead to these crimes?"

He inhaled sharply, there was no sense in lying now. "Guilty…"

A moment of silence washed over the court for a moment, before the Council's speaker continued. "Very well, the defense may begin, tell us exactly why your client is innocent?"

Sally stood from her chair, and addressed the Council this well as the prosecution. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm sure you've all heard of my client by now, a Mobian fox indoctrinated under Robotnik's Rule and used to enforce his will. But I assure you, that isn't the whole story. Let's start from the beginning, Miles was created eight years ago by Dr. Robotnik, whom is now deceased. He was not captured and tortured as many think, rather he's a genetic experiment made with the sole purpose of ensuing the Empire's survival. I submit his files to the court now."

The Council looked questioning, wondering exactly where she was going with this.

"As a child, Miles had almost no contact with the outside world, leaving Robotnik as the one and only other living being whom he had any major contact with. As such, he began to look up to him as a father figure of sorts. As with many of us, Miles was born with the desire to fit in, to show his father he wasn't a waste of his time. As such, without knowledge of Robotnik's true intentions, he began doing exactly as ordered, being told that his work was contributing to a perfect world."

"Objection," The prosecution stated. "This is irrelevant to the case!"

The Council thought it over for a moment, "Overruled. I see no harm in explaining the facts of the case at hand here."

Sally nodded and continued, "I have another piece of evidence I'd like to submit." She explained, holding up a small data drive, "This is a piece of surveillance footage taken from Robotropolis' archives. It shows the exact moment Miles confronted his father and demanded the truth."

The video was played on a set of televisions that had been moved into the room, it was surveillance footage from the throne room, the video depicted Miles and his father, seemingly in the midst of a argument.

"No! I won't just leave! I know you're lying to me, why are you lying to me?!" The kitsune exclaimed.

"I'm not lying to you Mil-"

"Yes, you are! I've seen how their made! Is that the cost a perfect world will come at? Loss of freewill?"

Robotnik stood at the question, a air of authority and anger radiating about him.

"Miles, you're bordering on treason here. Have you been listening to what Sonic and his Resistance have told you?"

"I don't need to anymore! I saw you there! I heard their screams and pleads, and you seemed to enjoy it! What are we really fighting for?!"

"I've told you before, a world without pain, loss, death!"

"At what cost?! How far are you willing to take it?!"

The room went utterly silent.

"Miles, I know you think you have this all figured out, but if you listen-"

"I'm not listening, I've listened enough. I trusted you, and this is what I get?"

"You can trust me Miles."

"Can I?"

"Miles, I don't want to have to hurt you."

"You already have."

The Swat Bots by the door shifted in the background, raising their arms up.

Robotnik sighed, "I wish this wouldn't have happened, I knew you were too curious for your own good."

The robots moved closer to Miles.

"Take him away."

The clip ended and Sally continued, "The remainder of the footage covers his escape from Robotropolis, which, while rather uneventful in itself, did have Robotnik attempt to kill Miles during his escape attempt, badly wounding him in the process. Left on his own in the Great Forest, he quickly succumbed to the elements, eventually being found by residents from a nearby village. Dr. Finitevus, took him in and helped him recover, eventually helping him adjust to life outside of Robotropolis."

Sally noticed that the judges were starting to become disinterested in her speech and it occurred to her that she might be rambling. She decided to speed things up a bit. "Eventually, he adjusted to a normal life just like the rest of us, I've gotten to know him personally from his position on the Freedom Fighters and I think he's truly changed, I hope you'll all agree with my sentiments, thank you for your time."

She sat down and Tails smiled back at her, he now felt much more confident in their ability to win, as he looked, he spotted the other Freedom Fighters in the back row, this helped his spirits quite a bit. The judges, somewhat at a loss for words, attempted to continue. "W- Will the prosecution state their case."

"As I'm sure you all know by now, Miles Robotnik has caused irreparable damage and harm to the people of Mobius. Serving under the direction of Dr. Ivo Robotnik, the traitorous warlord, he performed countless atrocities, all in service to a greater cause. I declare Miles Robotnik responsible for the destruction of countless homes and families across the kingdom, I was one of them he was personally responsible for in one of his invasions. I was forced to watch as my home and everything I knew was burned to the ground, leaving nothing left! He did it all because he loved his father, with complete and total knowledge of what he had done-"

"Hold it!" A voice yelled from the assembled congregation, Sonic stood up and made his way next to Miles. "Robotnik never loved Miles, and I have proof!"

Sally pulled him aside, "What are you doing!?"

"Saving your skins! Look, remember what we found in Robotropolis, he was going to turn him into a Robian! He was abused!"

Sally sighed, "You better not blow this…"

Sonic smiled and made his way back to the fox's side, "I'm not sure if its come to your attention or not, but Robotnik's original plan was never to use him, it was to create the ultimate Robian, one that he could personally shape and mold. Additionally," The hedgehog grabbed the fox's shirt and without warning, pulled it up, revealing his scarred and damaged back. "Does this look like love to any of you!? Because if it does, then you're all sick!"

Tears welled up in Tails' eyes, the pressure was getting to him. He felt the murmurs and whispers from the assembled crowd and started to assume the worst, despite what Sonic was saying. He never liked displaying his scars, the often dug up extremely painful memories. This was just that times a million. Additionally, he was starting to realize exactly how much the other Freedom Fighters loved and cared about him, to their point they were willing to say these things in front of dozens of high-ranking officials.

The prosecutor was stunned for a moment, before he responded. "Objection, I'd like to strike what we've heard from the record. What we heard was not delivered by a registered member of the court."

The Council paused, before the chairmen spoke. "O- Overruled, I'm sorry, but the amount of new evidence presented requires us to accept what has been said, especially since it's been backed up."

The prosecution sighed, before he could say anything, Sally interrupted. "I also would like to say… As the current reigning monarch, I hereby grant a royal pardon to Miles Robotnik for all committed crimes."

As soon as she said those words, the room went silent. The Council chairman gave her a look that could kill, "I'm not certain you fully understand the repercussions for what you're doing here, there is still plenty of crimes for him to be tried on."

"I know what I'm doing, in fact, just so you can all get to know him better, I'm appointing Miles as head of the reconstruction efforts."

This time a loud audible gasp could be heard throughout the room, even Tails and Sonic looked surprised at what she had said. "Sally, you don't need to-" Tails tried to protest before being cut off.

"Look, if you want to punish an innocent Mobian under my watch, then I refused to be your leader!"

Sally finished her rant, the pure rage and anger present on her face painted a clear message to everybody present. The Chairman spoke, "Does the prosecution have anything else to add?"

"N- No your honor…"

"Well then, I guess that settles it. Is all the Council agreed?"

Silence.

"Very well, I hereby declare the defendant Miles Robotnik not guilty!"

With the slam of the gavel, Tails felt an incredible weight lift off his shoulders. Sonic pulled him into a hug and Sally walked over to the prosecutor.

"We did it bud!" Sonic exclaimed, "You're free!"

Tails was practically beaming, not only was he free, but the head of the reconstruction efforts, he quickly ushered Sally over as his shackles were removed.

"Sally, why did you make the head of-"

"I remembered someone saying all they wanted to do was help! I figured that'd be the best way!"

Tails smiled and the entirety of the Freedom Fighters went their separate ways, as Tails left, he ran into a somewhat familiar face.

"Shadow? What are you doing here?"

The ebony hedgehog had a very passive look about him, however, as Tails asked the question. A small smile crossed his face, "I'm just here to thank you. Even with just one week without Robotnik, I feel great."

"I hope we can meet again some time Shadow…"

The hedgehog eyed him somewhat suspiciously, which puzzled the kit. "Is something-"

"Yeah, there's something different about you. You're practically radiating Chaos Energy."

Tails looked surprised, "I don't feel any different…"

"That's odd, normally I can at least feel when I'm using it… I want to try something really quick…"

The hedgehog grabbed the kit's hand and without warning, teleported the two of them outside the city. Tails yanked his hand away and rushed into some nearby trees and promptly lost his lunch. He returned a moment later, "At least warn me!"

"Sorry, now, I want to see if you can possibly use any of that Energy."

"How? I've never done it before!"

"Everybody has some connection to it, just focus and it'll come to you, with the amount of energy stored up in yourself now, it's practically begging to be unleashed."

Tails closed his eyes and slowed his breathing, focusing on what his thoughts told him to do, as he did, he felt a tingling sensation in his fingertips. Along with the overwhelming desire to discharge the stored energy.

Shadow watched on as the kit's hands became cloaked in a soft white light, he knew it would work, now the question became, how would it manifest itself?

The fox had the urge to throw his hands out and so he did as instructed, he was instantly met with the feeling of power flowing through his blood and into his arms. He slowly opened his eyes and was astonished, small diamond shaped barriers had formed on the palms of his hands, their color a pure pristine white.

Shadow cautiously stepped up to one of them and placed his hand on the construct, it felt solid, he immediately drew one of his spears and pulled it up, taking aim at the kitsune.

"Shadow! What are you-" He didn't have the time to finish his sentence as the weapon flew at him, he raised his hands in surprise and only felt the slightest of impacts and a minor bit of strain. The spear struck the barriers he had projected and had harmlessly came to a halt. The fox was surprised.

"Barriers…" Shadow mused, "Interesting…"

"What do you mean interesting?"

"Chaos Powers tend to depend on the personality of their users, manifesting something they feel is fit for them."

Tails eyed the still glowing shields on the palms of his hands. "I guess they wanted to give me shields then…"

"It's a start, I suspect you'll learn more as you get older, remember, you just learned about them."

"Awesome, thanks Shadow!"

"No problem, I hope we'll meet again soon."

Shadow grabbed the kit's arm, "You ready this time?"

"Yeah!"

The two teleported back to the city, Tails was still a bit sick afterward, but it was manageable. They went their separate ways.

Tails simply retired to the Prower household, where he spent most of his evening with his family. As evening fell, he sat out back on the grass, watching the sun set on his first day of true freedom. As he did, Fiona walked over and sat next to him.

"So, how's it feel?" She asked.

"Unlike anything I've ever felt…"

"It's finally over huh?"

"Crazy to think that, I mean, it's a lot to take in…"

The two were silent for a moment, taking in the view, Tails eventually spoke again. "So… About that date…"

Fiona let out a quiet laugh, "Does this count?" She asked, giving him a soft kiss on the cheek. The kitsune turned a bright red.

"Sure," He responded. "This is perfect…"

 **The End**

 **Alright everyone, that's all! I'd like to thank each and every one of you who gave this story a look, it certainly wouldn't have been possible without you guys! However, I've got a few special thanks I'd like to hand out!**

 **Zoggerific: I'd like to thank you for helping get this off the ground in the first few chapters! It was a humongous help!**

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 **And finally, I'd like to thank everybody who gave their time to read this fic. It really wouldn't be where it was without any of you guys! Thank you all so much for enjoying this story! Now, I do still have writing in the works, so stick around for the continuation of Sonic Boom: The Ancients and a whole new story! I'd one again like to thank you all! This is Leodragon678, signing off!**


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